Rafael Nadal is not surprised that fellow players have been impressed by his level during practice despite missing considerable playing time on the court.
Nadal, 37, damaged his hip muscle at the 2023 Australian Open and was forced to end his season in May. He underwent a complex operation to cure the injury in the middle of last year and resumed training in the autumn.
The Spaniard played practice sets with Arthur Fils during his recent trip to Kuwait in December and with Jan-Lennard Struff and Emil Ruusuvuori at his academy in Mallorca. A week ago, he made his first trip to Australia since that gruesome injury and landed in Brisbane ahead of his first singles match in a year.
In building up to his first-round match against Dominic Thiem, Nadal has been preparing intensely with Holger Rune and Andy Murray, competing at the ATP 250 event in Queensland to open up the new season.
His two peers have lavished praise at his general level of competition, with the 20-year-old Dane calling it "unbelievable" and even admitting to his coaching team that Nadal was playing at a frenetic pace.
Murray, for his part, stated that the practice was "intense" and that Nadal looked "good" physically and playing well. Those words have landed on Nadal's ears, and the Spaniard joked that it is not unusual to receive praise from fellow players because they wouldn't dare to speak ill of him or any other pro.
"Well, I mean, if you ask my colleagues how I feel, they will not come here and say, Rafa is playing like disaster. It's obvious, no? I feel what they said have not much value because, of course, you ask me how they're playing, I will say they're playing great, too. You will not talk negative things about colleagues (smiling)."
Nadal is pleased with how things are moving in practice, but the real litmus test will certainly come on a match court on Tuesday, where he is set to play Thiem in singles after he was overwhelmed in doubles at the weekend. He has calmed down pre-tournament expectations during a recent press conference.
"But no, in a realistic world, I'm happy the way that I am practicing. Of course, I don't have the expectations that I used to have in the past, especially for the beginning. It's obvious, no? It's one year. It's surgery. It's not a long period of time practicing in a decent level. For me is a little bit unpredictable how the things going to be, no?"
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