Rafael Nadal is on the verge of returning to the ATP Tour, as he’ll come back at the 2024 Brisbane International in two weeks’ time.
Ahead of his comeback, the Spanish player spoke a lot to the media or on his social media channels. Recently, he returned home from training camp in Kuwait, and according to the reports, his level looks very good.
His coach, Carlos Moya, was with him in Kuwait, seeing his protege play against teenage prodigy Arthur Fils, and after their trip, the Spanish coach talked to ATPTour.com, sharing some details from their preparation and journey to come back.
Nadal underwent the surgery in June 2023, and now Moya revealed that it was actually much more complicated than anticipated, after the surgeons opened the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s body.
“The entire process that requires an operation with absolute rest. He had a more complicated operation than initially anticipated. Once they opened and saw what was there, it was more delicate than initially thought. Look, he had tests and MRIs… it seems that what he had was not well seen and the recovery time has been longer than expected.”
As a result, the Spaniard’s recovery time prolonged, but that could be attributed to multiple factors. Nadal never spent so much time away from the tennis courts, and it may be also a process that his body is not used to.
“It is also true that if he does not have surgery it would be even more difficult for him to recover. He was always clear that he wanted to return, and he wanted his farewell to be on the court. After the operation, it was a month and a half of practically not seeing him, since he went on vacation.”
Nadal went on vacation right after the surgery, and his return to training was very slow, as the 14-time Roland Garros champion didn’t want to rush things.
“He was doing the rehabilitation within certain conditions, since he was on the boat, in Greece. Then, at the end of August, we started training. Nothing, very soft. We did it two days a week, twenty minutes. A very slow progression, we went back a little, we came back… Always very conservative.”
As time went on, the Spaniard and his team increased the intensity, but they had to keep in mind that he’s also 37 years old.
“Little by little we increased the load and increased the intensity, always with very established deadlines that we were meeting. Sometimes we had to take a step back, rest a little, slow down, but that’s the whole process that comes with an injury of this seriousness, and at this point in his career in which he is no longer 20 years old.”
With Brisbane International, and after that the Australian Open, around the corner, Nadal and his team are ready to go to Australia, and find out whether his level is still sufficient to compete.
“Until little by little we have been able to move forward, the problems have been solved and now he is practically ready to go to Australia to try it.”
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