Rafael Nadal is back to practice to return to tennis in the coming months; however, things won't go smoothly, according to former ATP player Boris Becker.
Nadal himself doesn't think things go smoothly, as he played down expectations in the first public interview he did regarding his comeback. We don't even know yet when that return will happen, though many assume that he will be back on the court in Melbourne for the 2024 Australian Open.
Missing an entire year at his age will always be tough to overcome, but if somebody can do it, it's Nadal. Becker agrees with that, but he's far from certain that things will go swimmingly for Nadal as history proved that it generally doesn't.
His big goal when he comes back is not Melbourne, but Roland-Garros. First of all, it’s good news that he wants to play and is on the training field. It will be a long, rocky road back. The young savages don’t sleep. They don’t say, ‘Nadal, good to see you. We’re going to let you win now.
Many would agree with Becker's comment made on the Eurosport Podcast, but plenty of fans are holding out hope for more than just a comeback. Doubting him in the past proved like a bad idea, and not many are willing to go there.
Even people in Djokovic's camp are pretty careful about Nadal's comeback. Just a few days ago, Goran Ivanisevic said that he expects Nadal to be very dangerous in Paris on clay, which is probably true.
He didn't mention any other Grand Slams, which could show a consensus among tennis figures that Nadal won't have enough to challenge anywhere seriously but Paris.
We'll see what happens next year, as we won't know until we actually see Nadal compete. Even he probably won't know until he starts playing competitive tennis.
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