Google News Rafael Nadal trains on the court! WATCH
by LORENZO CIOTTI
Rafael Nadal is back practicing on the court, in view of his imminent return at the Australian Open 2024. In the last few hours some good news has finally arrived for the world of tennis and for all its fans. The Spaniard, who has been out since the beginning of January, is training hard to be competitive for what could be his last season as a professional, before retirement.
Nadal is working tirelessly to fully recover and return for the 2024 season. We have had official confirmation that 2023 is now over for the Spaniard and Rafa would not even have participated in the Davis Cup Finals, with Spain not having qualified anyway.
However, the Majorcan champion is practicing intensely on his return and return to the court. As evidenced by the following video published on his social accounts, Rafa is more excited than ever. Below you can see his post on Instagram:
The injury and the come back
Rafa is out of action due to a psoas injury that occurred in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open and has never recovered since then.
It was the second round, the match against the American Mackenzie McDonald, the injury seemed less serious than expected and Rafa wanted to return as soon as possible. There was talk of a month's stop but the reality was very different.
Shortly before the Roland Garros, Nadal announced the end of his season, spoke about the injury that forced him to box until the end of the year and the situation relating to his career. Rafa underlined that, barring sensational twists, 2024 will be his last season on the circuit.
Obviously everything will depend on his physical condition and whether he will be able to compete with the best. 2023 also saw Novak Djokovic overtaking Rafael Nadal in terms of Grand Slam titles. The Serbian champion won 3 Majors and thus brought himself to 24 Grand Slam titles, ahead of Rafael Nadal's 22 and Roger Federer's now distant 20.
A nice setback for Rafa in the fight against the GOAT and, unless there are sensational twists on his return, he will hardly be able to close the gap, but who knows... Nadal has made history anyway and the fans can't wait to see him again in the center of the court.