Nadal confirms he will play again: “I’m not going to win more slams than Djokovic, but I give myself the opportunity to enjoy myself again”

Rafael Nadal is coming back. He doesn’t know where, or when yet, but for the first time since he began his rehabilitation from the hip injury he suffered at the start of 2023, he knows he will return.

Nadal has previously said that 2024 is more than likely to be his final year on Tour but he’s now speaking positively about playing again, at a high level, if he can.

Speaking at an event at the Clinica del Tenis, run by his doctor, Dr. Ángel Ruiz Cotorro, Nadal said he will definitely be coming back to the ATP Tour.

“If you want something new that I haven’t told you so far, then I sincerely believe that I will return to play,” Nadal said, in quotes written on the Marca website. “I’m not ready to say whether it will be in one place or another, but I’m happy with how things are going. A few weeks ago I wasn’t in a position to say if I could come back, but the steps forward have been positive.”

“I have never lost the dream of playing and now it seems that things are going in the right direction. When I know when I’ll be back, I’ll be the first to say so. I’m training and I’m happy. It’s a good time in my life.”

Nadal says he still hopes to be competitive

Nadal did say, though, that his return would not be gauged by how much success he has, or if he is able to be competitive against Novak Djokovic, whose three slam wins in 2023 took him two clear of Nadal in the all-time list, with 24 to the Spaniard’s 22.

“I haven’t played for a year and for me personal success, which is usually more powerful than general success, is to maintain the dream of playing again,” he said.

“I know it will be difficult to regain a very high level of tennis, but if I did not have the dream of being competitive again I would not have done the work I have done these months, the effort it takes after a very long career, that the years weigh.

“I’m not going to win more Grand Slams than Novak Djokovic, but I’m going to give myself the opportunity to enjoy myself again.”

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