Rafael Nadal reducing personal expectations in ‘unexplored terrain’ when he returns to tour in January

MADRID — Rafael Nadal has decrease expectations for when he returns to the tour in January after a yr out.

Nadal introduced on Friday he’ll play on the Brisbane International in Australia in January. The 37-year-old Spaniard has not appeared on tour since final January, when he damage his hip flexor throughout a loss within the second spherical of the Australian Open. He wound up having arthroscopic surgical procedure in June in Barcelona.

Nadal mentioned on Monday in a video on social media that he hopes to once more “feel those nerves, that illusion, those fears, those doubts” on the court docket.

“I have been afraid to announce things because in the end it’s a year without competing and it’s a hip operation. But what worries me the most is not the hip, it’s everything else,” he mentioned. “I think I’m ready and I trust and hope that things go well and that it gives me the opportunity to enjoy myself on the court.”

Nadal mentioned he is aware of issues could also be completely different after a lot time with out competing.

“I expect from myself not to expect anything. This is the truth. To have the ability not to demand myself what I have demanded myself throughout my career,” he mentioned. “I imagine I’m in a unique second, in a unique scenario and in an unexplored terrain.

“I have internalized what I have had throughout my life, which is to demand myself the maximum, and right now what I really hope is to be able not to do that, not to demand the maximum, to accept that things are going to be very difficult at the beginning and to give myself the necessary time and forgive myself if things go wrong at the beginning, which is a very big possibility.”

Last May, somewhat greater than per week earlier than the French Open, Nadal introduced he was lacking the event that has earned him 14 of his 22 Grand Slam tournaments. He mentioned then that he hoped to compete in 2024, which he anticipated to be his remaining season.

Nadal completed his message on Monday by saying that issues might change for one of the best in a “not-too-distant future” if “I keep the illusion and the spirit of work” and if his “physique responds” effectively.