With Rafael Nadal set to make his comeback at the Brisbane International in Australia in January 2024, many fans were left wondering if it would be his swansong year. The 37-year-old has been out of action since last January, when he hurt his hip flexor during a defeat in the second round of the Australian Open.
Then fast forward to May, a little more than a week before the start of the French Open, the Spaniard announced that he would miss the Grand Slam event, and he wasn't sure about the exact date of his return.
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Now in a recent video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, he spoke about the possibility of 2024 being his final year of competitive tennis. "It is a reality, there are many chances that it will be my last year without any doubt. There are chances that it may only be half a year, there are possibilities it may be a full year, that we may not be able to reach all that.. these are things right now I do not have the capacity to be able to answer, this is the truth," he said.
"I am only in conditions to say that I return to compete, that I continue having in my head that the normal thing, or that there are many possibilities that it is my last year, and I am going to enjoy the tournaments in that way," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"I am only in conditions to say that I return to compete, that I continue having in my head that the normal thing, or that there are many possibilities that it is my last year, and I am going to enjoy the tournaments in that way," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Furthermore, he explained that he hasn't officially decided on retirement yet, as he wanted to see how he performs and it would depend on that. "I do not want to announce it because in the end I do not know what can happen and I have to give myself the opportunity not to say one thing and then I can be a slave of what I have said," he said.
"I think it is going to be like that, but I can't be 100% sure because in the end I have worked a lot to come back to compete and if suddenly things and my physique allows me to continue and enjoy what I do.. why am I going to set a deadline? I think it makes no sense," he added.