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Rafael Nadal is seemingly not closing the doors on potentially playing beyond 2024 but indicated that some factors need to be met for that to happen. When Nadal was announcing his French Open withdrawal in May, he also revealed his intention to retire from pro tennis in 2024.
On June 2nd, Nadal had surgery to repair his psoas muscle injury. "Who knows. What if suddenly my body recovers & I feel strong & full of energy to continue? As soon as I know the answer, I’ll share it. I live day by day.
My hope is that within two months, around mid-November, I can have the clarity to say, 'Where am I? How am I? How is the injury progressing?' I train 40 minutes per day, three times a week, & I do a lot of work in the gym," Nadal said on Movistar, via The Tennis Letter.
Rafa Nadal says 2024 might not be his last season:
"Who knows. What if suddenly my body recovers & I feel strong & full of energy to continue? As soon as I know the answer, I’ll share it. I live day by day”.
“My hope is that within two months, around mid-November, I can have… pic.twitter.com/sKyROvHzAb — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 18, 2023
Nadal doesn't expect to win the Australian Open, French Open
In his interview, Nadal also highlighted that he is not expecting from himself to win the Australian Open and French Open after returning from the surgery and a long pause at the age of 37. “I want to be back on the court and compete but I’m not expecting/hoping to come back and win Roland Garros and Australia.
That looks like very far away, even if not impossible," Nadal said. Also, Nadal addressed Novak Djokovic being two Grand Slams clear ahead of him in the Slam race. “I am not frustrated for a simple reason – within my possibilities, I have done everything to make things as good as possible.
Yes, you can live frustrated with 22 Grand Slams, for example, Novak lives it in a more intense way. For him, it would have been a greater frustration not to achieve it. Perhaps that is why he achieved it," Nadal said.