Rafael Nadal is seemingly going to come back in January, and final preparations for the return will actually happen in Kuwait.
The Spaniard has been preparing for the comeback for a very long time with multiple social media posts of his training. It wasn't certain that the comeback would happen as we didn't hear much from him outside of dismissing the claims made by Craig Tiley.
Tiley, as the tournament director of the Australian Open, claimed Nadal would be coming back at the event, but Nadal dismissed it not long after that. Some time after that Nadal actually confirmed his comeback, with many assuming that it will happen at the Australian Open.
Now, it seems that his preparations will happen in his academy in Kuwait, according to a prominent Spanish journalist, Pedro Fullana, who reported the news.
Preparing for the event in the Middle East is nothing new to Nadal or any other player. Many players do it because the weather is pretty pleasant then and feels similar to Australia. Nadal has been to Kuwait many times because he opened an Academy there.
The plan is to travel at the start of December and practice for a pretty long time. Fullana did not specify whether Nadal would be returning to Spain before flying to Australia, but he will be going early.
Nadal is likely to play at least one preparation event before the Grand Slam, which makes sense. Practice will only get you so far and actual matches are different.
Getting a few in before the Grand Slam would certainly be beneficial for him. We'll see whether things really unfold the way Fullana reported, but it seems like a good plan.
It's basically been a whole year since we last saw Nadal play, and fans can't wait to see him back on the courts again. Mark your calendars as we're about a month away, and time flies.