- Rafael Nadal has confirmed his return from injury after a year out of tennis
- The former world No. 1 will head to Brisbane for the first week of the season
- The Spaniard was absent for a spell due to a hip injury which required surgery
Rafael Nadal has returned his return to the tennis court after nearly a year out will be in Brisbane for the first week of the 2024 season.
The former world No. 1 last played at the Australian Open, where he exited the slam prematurely as a result of a hip injury which required surgery.
The 37-year-old subsequently sat out the rest of the 2023 campaign, and fell out of the top 100 for the first time in two decades.
However, on Friday, Nadal released a video to social media which confirmed that he is returning to the sport by heading to Brisbane for the first week of the new season.
Nadal said: ‘After one year outside of the tour, I think it’s the right moment to be back. So I feel ready to announce that I will be back in Brisbane the first week of the season.’
Rafael Nadal confirmed his return to tennis by announcing he will play in Brisbane next season
The Spaniard has been working to return after nearly a year out of the sport with a hip injury
The video also features a section of a press conference, in which Nadal said: ‘I think I don’t deserve to end like this. I believe I have worked hard all my sport life so that my end isn’t here at a press conference.
‘I am going to work hard to finish my career in the right way.’
Brisbane is one of the warm-up tournaments ahead of the Australian Open, which starts in late January.
The 22-time grand slam champion underwent a procedure on his left hip in May, after surrendering in his battle to get ready for the French Open and Wimbledon.
In May, he revealed in a press conference that he envisaged 2024 being a farewell tour after repeated injury troubles, and hoped to play at the tournaments that have meant the most to him.
The French Open would feature highly on Nadal’s list of important tournaments, following his record 14 titles at Roland-Garros, which will also host the Olympic tennis event during the Olympics next summer.
Nadal won the Brisbane International in 2009 and 2022, and will take part in the next edition, which will be held between December 31 and January 7, and finishes a week before the start of the Australian Open, the first slam of the calendar year.
In October, Nadal’s team rejected claims by the Australian Open’s tournament chief Craig Tiley that the Spaniard was to return to action at the Grand Slam in January.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion last played at the Australian Open at the start of 2023