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Rafael Nadal won 22 Grand Slam tournaments in his career
Photo: Graham Denholm/Getty Images
Rafael Nadal wants to play tennis again. As the 37-year-old announced in a video on Platform X, formerly Twitter, he wants to compete again in Brisbane, Australia, at the beginning of January. Nadal has not played a match since January of this year after injuring his hip at the Australian Open and requiring surgery.
"After a year without competitions, the moment has come to compete again," said the Spaniard in the video on X. In the meantime, it was unclear whether Nadal would return to the tennis court at all. After his surgery, he had announced that 2024 would be his last year as a professional.
At an appointment in Barcelona, Nadal had recently said that he was making significant progress in training. He is happy with the current development. "A few weeks ago, I wasn't able to say whether I would return," said the former world number one, "but the last steps forward have been positive."
Djokovic is looking forward to Nadal's comeback
His long-time rival Novak Djokovic had recently expressed his delight should Nadal return. "I think it would be nice for our sport if there was at least one more match between Nadal and me," said Djokovic (36) at the ATP Finals in Turin. "It's the biggest rivalry in terms of the number of games our sport has ever had," said the Serb. So far, Djokovic and Nadal have faced each other 59 times.
For some time, Djokovic and Nadal shared the record for the most wins in Grand Slam tournaments, with 22 titles each. However, due to his triumphs at the French Open and the US Open in 2023, the Serb pulled away and is now the sole record holder. On the women's side, only Margaret Court has won 24 major titles.
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