The organizers of the prestigious grand slam competition, the Australian Open, have confirmed that the legendary tennis star Rafael Nadal will compete in the 2024 Australian Open.
Since suffering a hip flexor injury in January while losing to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal has been unable to compete. The injury forced him to undergo surgery in June this year.
Nadal stated that next year will “probably” be his final season after he announced he would miss the French Open for the first time in 19 years.
Since then, he has not returned to the court but his management team said the 22 Grand Slams winner has started training and the 2024 Australian Open in January could be his first grand slam post-surgery.
The director of the competition, Craig Tiley, confirmed the development earlier today, October 11, describing Rafael Nadal’s proposed return to the court as “awesome”.
“We can reveal exclusively here that Rafa will be back,” Tiley said.
“He’s been off for most of the year and in talking to him over the last few days he confirmed he will be back, which we’re really excited about, the champion of 2022. That’s awesome.”
Note that Nadal has won the Australian Open twice. In his prolonged absence on the court, his major rival, Novak Djokovic has increased his overall grand slam triumph to 24, making him the most successful player in the men’s category.
Meanwhile, Tiley has confirmed that past women’s champions Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber, and Naomi Osaka plan to return after maternity vacations.
Tiley also confirmed that the Australian Open will last 15 days starting in 2024 to cut down on the number of late-night finishes in the forthcoming edition of the competition at Melbourne Park.
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