5 Players who have predicted Rafael Nadal to have a strong comeback in 2024 ft. Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz

Rafael Nadal is going to make a much-anticipated comeback to tennis in 2024 after an injury lay-off that lasted for almost a year. He is all set to appear in the Brisbane Open in January and will also participate in the Australian Open later.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion has already announced that 2024 is going to be his last year as a tennis player. A number of the players on the tour have expressed their views about Nadal’s return and most of them have backed the 37-year-old to make a strong comeback. The Spaniard is ranked No. 670 in the world currently.

In this article, we will take a look at five such players who have backed the Spaniard to make a strong comeback.

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Five players who have predicted Nadal to have a strong comeback

#5. Roberto Bautista Agut

Roberto Bautista Agut, the 35-year-old compatriot of Nadal, recently opined that tennis players usually admire the Spaniard even more than people who have not played the game. He said (via Marca):

“I don't know, but he has the knife between his teeth and is going to put all his effort into having a good year, that's for sure. I know him and I know how competitive he is."

Nadal's intensity and competitive nature are part of tennis folklore now and his fellow countryman only reinstated it in his interview.

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#4. Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz, the 25-year-old American, also backed the Spaniard to have a strong return to tennis in a recent interview with Eurosport. He said:

“I mean, I expected that, it’s Rafa. I don’t think that he was ever going to just retire and not give it another go. So I definitely, after the amount of time he’s had off, I expected him to come back to start the year. So I think that it’s good news for tennis as a whole."

Fritz is more than a decade younger than the Spaniard, but still admired the latter’s tenacity.

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#3. Andrey Rublev

Andrey Rublev, the current World No. 5, has stated that the Spaniard might win more Grand Slams in the coming years. In an interview with the National in London, he said:

"But how many times people would say, not just about Rafa, about all those three players, every time they were injured or down and losing matches everybody was saying, ‘Now the time of Roger, or time of Rafa, or time of Novak – is coming to an end’, and they always proved them wrong."

“So I will not be surprised if he will prove it again and wins more Slams.”

It remains to be seen whether the great man can make Rublev's prophecy come true.

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#2. Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz, the man who has been leading Spanish tennis in the absence of Nadal, is also optimistic about a strong comeback by the veteran. He said (as per Tennis World):

“I saw some videos of him practising, he's 100%. I hear from other players that they practised with Rafa in these past weeks and they said that he's going to return to his good level. His top level.”

Alcaraz, being a top player himself, will know the kind of hunger and resilience champions in any sport usually possess.

#1. Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic, Nadal’s greatest rival, said that Rafa was returning "to win a Grand Slam, not just to play.” The Serb said this in an interview with journalists in Riyadh.

He cited his own example to emphasize the ability of great players to prove their critics wrong. Djokovic said:

“I always expect him (Nadal) to play at his best, to be honest. Many times they've signed him out, they've done that with me as well. But we've proved them wrong.”

Djokovic will be standing there himself in the Spaniard's way to a probable Grand Slam win, but that did not prevent him from praising his rival’s mental fortitude.