WATCH: “What a point!” Rafael Nadal’s fantastic rally against Arthur Fils amuses fans

Nadal is set to play in the 2024 Australian Open and is present in the entry list.

WATCH: “What a point!” Rafael Nadal’s fantastic rally against Arthur Fils amuses fans

Rafael Nadal (Source: Screengrab/Twitter)

A new practice video of Rafael Nadal has emerged recently, where he can be seen winning a brilliant rally against Arthur Fils at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Kuwait. It is definitely a positive sign that shows that the 22-time Grand Slam winner is slowly coming back in form ahead of his comeback at the 2023-24 Brisbane Open before he finally steps foot in the Australian Open, which is his actual target right now. 

Nadal missed the entirety of the 2023 season owing to a hip flexor injury. He injured himself during the 2023 Australian Open and, as a result, lost pretty easily to American Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the tournament. The injury turned out to be more serious than it initially looked and after undergoing surgery; it forced Nadal to sit out the entire season. 

YouTube video

His comeback was a big grey area as well. However, after months of anticipation, he finally announced recently that he will take part in the 2023-24 Brisbane International, which kicks off on 31st December.

FS Video

The idea was to make his comeback at the Australian Open, but it is better to play a small tournament before playing a Grand Slam and thus, Brisbane International turned out to be the best option for the Spaniard. Naomi Osaka, who is also making a comeback after over a year, has chosen the Brisbane International to get match fit ahead of the Australian Open. 

Nadal posted videos of his training on his Instagram account throughout the year to keep his fans updated. It shows that the Spaniard is taking this comeback very seriously and his recovery is going at the perfect pace, which is great news for the tennis world in general as it would make the Australian Open intensely competitive. 

Rafael Nadal hints about retiring after the 2024 season

In a video that was recently posted on his social media accounts, Rafael Nadal said there is a good chance that the 2024 season will be his last and that he will retire soon. 

There's every chance that it's going to be my last year and I'm going to enjoy the tournaments in that way. 
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal (Source: Sky Sports)

The Spaniard said that he doesn’t want to announce it yet as he doesn’t know what can happen. Although he thinks that it is going to happen, he is not 100% sure. Nadal said that he has worked on his physique a lot in the last one year and if it allows him to play more than one season, then he will try to push himself. Thus, he does not want to set a deadline on his retirement yet. 

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