Rafael Nadal is ready to scale back expectations for his 2024 return: if something goes wrong, I’ll accept myself. Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, is more concerned with the mental side of the game than the hip as he gets ready to return to the court.
Nadal declared earlier in the month that he would be playing in the Brisbane International, one of the ATP 250 events that kicks off the season, on December 31.
Since his early-year exit in the second round of the Australian Open due to a persistent hip injury concern, Rafael Nadal, 37, has not participated in any competitions. His decision to withdraw from the French Open, where he has won 14 titles, was a major setback due to the hip injury.
Due to the severity of the injury, a team of specialists led by Canadian physician Marc Phillippon underwent arthroscopic surgery on the iliopsoas muscle in his left leg. After the successful surgery in Barcelona, Nadal respected his body’s delicate healing process by starting a five-month recovery period.
Fearing that he would return to the court, Nadal decided to sit out the remainder of the season. The legendary Spanish player did, however, declare that he would resume competition in January, hoping to play in the Australian Open the following month.
Ahead of his comeback, Rafael Nadal stated that, given his success in the tennis world and his never-say-die attitude, he would find it most difficult to manage his own expectations for the upcoming year.
“I’ve been hesitant to make announcements since I will ultimately be missing a year of competition due to a hip operation. However, everything else worries me more than the hip, said Nadal.
“I expect nothing from myself in return. That is the reality. to be able to stop demanding of myself what I have demanded of myself all my career,” he uttered.
“I think I’m in a different place, at a different time, and in uncharted territory.
“Now, what I really hope is to be able to not do that, not to demand the maximum, to accept that things are going to be very difficult at the beginning and to give myself the necessary time and forgive myself if things go wrong at the beginning, which is a very big possibility,” he continued. “I have internalized what I have had throughout my life, which is to demand myself the maximum.”
Nadal is anticipated to retire from the professional tour after the 2024 campaign. The Spaniard intends to leave his mark at the French Open in order to qualify for the Olympics in Paris and compete for gold.
