Rafael Nadal has been a professional tennis player for basically two decades, but he's never missed more consecutive days on the ATP Tour than this year.
Nadal has been in tennis ever since he broke out over two decades ago. The Spaniard quickly became one of the best players in the world when he turned pro and never really lost that.
Before dropping out of the top 10, Nadal held the record for most weeks spent in the top 10, which shows how consistent he is as a player. He's won Grand Slams almost every year he competed and regularly finished high in the rankings.
It wasn't until this recent injury that he lost some of those iconic streaks. In fact, this absence from tennis is his longest-ever absence from the sport at almost a year.
He confirmed on Friday, December 1st, 2023, that he's definitely returning to tennis at the Brisbane International, a preparation event before the Australian Open.
That event will allow him to avoid missing a full calendar year, as his return will happen some 350 days after the last time he played tennis.
It's the longest time he has been out of professional tennis, which speaks volumes about his commitment to the sport. He kept in shape, he successfully avoided big injuries, and got a bit lucky with all of that as well.
Now, at the twilight of his career, Nadal hopes for one last dance on Tour. It will be tough, something he spoke about a few times in recent months, but he's motivated to give it his best.
Having missed almost a year of action only makes it that much harder, but he has some experience with it. He had long layoffs before; for example, in 2013, he missed 223 days of action between two matches. It was between the 2012 Wimbledon and the 2013 Santiago Open.
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