Toni Nadal envisages Rafael Nadal playing at the 2024 Australian Open as farewell season looms on the 22-time Grand Slam champ

Toni Nadal predicts that Rafael Nadal will be playing his last career match at the Australian Open

Toni Nadal envisages Rafael Nadal playing at the 2024 Australian Open as farewell season looms on the 22-time Grand Slam champ

Toni(L) and Rafael Nadal(R) (Image via Sky Sports)

22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni Nadal views his nephew’s 2024 season as his final one. He believes that the Spaniard does show improvement. However, the Australian Open 2024 will be his swan song, according to the Spanish coach.

Rafa Nadal is undoubtedly one of the best tennis players in history. With 22 Grand Slam titles, he holds the second most major titles in men’s tennis, following his toughest rival, Novak Djokovic. However, despite his varied accomplishments, he has had a rough couple of years. He has had an injury-riddled few seasons. This has pushed the former World No. 1 back to a world rank of No. 240. Nevertheless, the Spaniard hoped to return to the tour in the 2024 season, for what appears to bid a final adieu to his illustrious career.

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Toni Nadal had a few words on Rafa’s return to tour speaking with Spanish radio station Onda Cero. “I believe that it will come at the Australian Open. Obviously my nephew intends to be cautious, which is what he has to do, “ he said. He also commented on the extremely long duration of his injury and the recovery period saying it is always a part of the sport.

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“It is a high-level sport. In the end, it is almost obligatory to play with pain, unfortunately, because you push your body to the limit. Pushing it to the limit is what makes you have all these problems, “ said the veteran coach. While tennis is a highly demanding sport, with a high scope for injury, this is all caused because a player is always testing their limits with their body. However, Nadal’s injury seems to mark the end of his career, without much scope for returning to the tour with full fervor.

Rafael Nadal has had an injury-plagued couple of seasons

Spain’s Rafael Nadal is one of the best tennis players in history. Along with the rest of the Big-3 comprising Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, he has defined modern tennis for the upcoming generation of players. However, his illustrious career seems to be coming to an end on account of injuries that prevent him from playing to his best level.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

The Spaniard has 22 Grand Slam titles and 36 Masters 1000 titles to speak for him. However, he had to cut short his 2021 season due to a left foot injury which he had been struggling with for a while. He made an announcement that he would be withdrawing from the rest of the season a few days before the US Open.

However, Nadal made a return to the tour with the 2022 Australian Open. It all seemed to be going well for the Spaniard when he won both the Australian Open and a record-extending 14th French Open title. Unfortunately, his season took a turn for the worse when he had to withdraw from the tour once again in the 2023 Australian Open, where he was the defending champion. This time, he was struggling with a hip injury. He had not made an appearance on the tour ever since.

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