"It's time to come back" - Rafael Nadal confirms return to action in 2024, announces site of return

Rafael Nadal has announced that he will make his return to the ATP Tour next year, almost a year after his injury at the 2023 Australian Open. The Spaniard will kickstart his comeback in Brisbane at an ATP 250 event, in preparation for the Melbourne Slam.

Nadal suffered a hip strain during his second-round loss against Mackenzie McDonald at the Rod Laver Arena, following which he has taken a long hiatus to recover.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion has fallen out of the top 500 in the ATP rankings, and is now at World No. 663. With much speculation in the air about when he will be playing again, the left-hander took to social media on Thursday to clear the air.

"Hello everyone. After a year away from competition, it's time to come back. It will be in Brisbane the first week of January. I'll see you there," Nadal said.

There was never any doubt about whether the former World No. 1 would have one last hurrah in front of his fans before retirement, as he had explained in a press conference last year that he will fight as much as he can to ensure that he takes to the court once again.

"I don't think I deserve to end like this. I have worked hard so that my end is not here, in a press conference. I am going to fight so that the end is not like this. I am satisfied that in my life we have done the things we saw fit to reach our goals," Nadal said.

"When it is time to not compete again, let it be with the satisfaction of knowing that I have done what was in my power, not letting me go before time. It's always worth making one more effort. It's been my philosophy. I'm going to fight for it," he added.

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"One must accept things" - Rafael Nadal on his injury setback in 2023

Rafael Nadal

In the aforementioned press conference, Rafael Nadal admitted that he was sad to lose a season because of injury, even if he had to listen to his body eventually.

The Spaniard, though, promised to look to the future instead, and make his comeback only when he felt that it was physically doable for him.

"I'm sad, I've I lost a season. I felt prepared to continue fighting, but on a physical level, it's not like that. One must accept things.

"You can get angry, sad, which is what I do, but you have to look to the future. You can't demand more and more to the body. Although my head has not wanted me to go this far, my body has told me that this far," Nadal said.

He added:

"What happens next year I don't know. I'm going to try to give myself the opportunity to compete again and My intention is for it to be my last year. Then you don't know what could happen.

"I'm going to try so that I can compete at the highest level. To get to this tour and that I can compete to fight for them, then to see the reality, we will have to wait."