Toni Nadal says Rafael Nadal is doing well mentally and is excited about returning to the court in 2024. After Nadal suffered an injury to his psoas muscle in January and suffered several setbacks in his recovery, the 22-time Grand Slam champion decided to surgically address his injury in June. Nadal, 37, will be out through the entire 2023 season but his goal is to return healthy in 2024. Currently, Nadal is with his family on vacation.
“Rafa is fine, on vacation, wanting to jump onto the court in 2024. Let’s hope that (Carlos) Alcaraz will let us win something then. He is excited to return and retire on the court.” Toni Nadal said, via Relevo.
Toni Nadal indicated Nadal could play beyond the 2024 season
When announcing his French Open withdrawal in May, Nadal announced his intention to put an end to his pro tennis career in 2024. Juan Monaco, a former top-10 player, said he doesn’t believe Nadal will retire in 2024 if he returns healthy and starts winning titles again. In an interview with CLAY, Uncle Toni was asked about Monaco’s comments.
“Yeah, I think it’s a bit like that. Then we’re going to see. Rafael is already 37 years old, the years weigh heavily. What I know, because I talked to him, is that Rafael wants to come back, he wants to recover well. And if he recovers well I think he will want to continue. Then we’ll see, because he has to get the results, which won’t be easy, because when you lose the ranking it’s more difficult, because you have to compete with the best faster. Then you have to be more days well and you have to play hard matches more times. Let’s see,” Toni Nadal told CLAY earlier this month.
It remains to be seen if Nadal will indeed retire in 2024 or decide to continue his career.