Rafael Nadal will return to tennis at the 2024 Australian Open, according to his uncle Toni Nadal, who generally provides updates on his nephew.
The former coach of Nadal is rather active with the media and generally provides minor updates about his nephew here and there. In a recent interview with El Desmarque, Toni Nadal spoke about his nephew admitting that his recovery is going really well.
That's great news for fans who were devastated to see Nadal lose an entire year because of the hip injury that occurred at this year's Australian Open. Toni Nadal named next year's one as the place where Rafael will return.
Rafa is good, recovering. If all goes well he wants to return to the court for the 2024 Australian Open.
Nadal has been relatively quiet for most of this year, spending most of his time back home, where he presumably works hard on his recovery. His uncle let it slip earlier this year that Nadal might even contemplate playing beyond 2024 if his recovery goes really well and he is competitive in his return.
The most recent news about his comeback was him visiting the Barcelona Clinic, where he had the surgery months ago for a regular medical check-up. He's also been practising on the tennis courts, though we don't really have any more major footage confirming that.
We do know that Toni Nadal has been present during the practice sessions, so if he's saying that the recovery is going well, there is no reason not to believe him. Some rumblings even suggest that Nadal might make his comeback at the Davis Cup final should Spain secure the knockout stages.
That event is coming up but they're without Carlos Alcaraz so it's not a certainty that they will make it.