Rafael Nadal arrives in Kuwait to train at his academy ahead of impending 2024 comeback

Rafael Nadal arrived in Kuwait on Friday, December 8, to train at his academy, one month ahead of his return to action after a lengthy injury break.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion is scheduled to kickstart his 2024 season at the ATP 250 Brisbane International, following which he will enter the Australian Open in Melbourne in pursuit of a 23rd Major. The Melbourne Major marks the venue of Nadal's last match in 2023, where he lost to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round while also picking up a hip injury.

After undergoing surgery, the Spaniard is finally fit for competition and has been amping up his training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor in the last few weeks. Now, after a short vacation in Vienna with his wife Maria Francisco Perello, the former World No. 1 has landed in Kuwait for another stint of training.

Videos of the southpaw walking out of the Kuwait airport as well as ones of him training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in the city have surfaced on the internet, much to the delight of his fans.

At the academy, he traded hits with French sensation Arthur Fils, who recently finished as the runner-up at the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals.

Rafael Nadal on 2024 comeback: "I think I have had the right people around me"

2023 Australian Open - Day 3

Speaking to fans on social media recently, Rafael Nadal admitted that his comeback journey was not entirely without doubt, as he wondered many times why he still wanted to continue playing.

However, the Spaniard was adamant about one thing -- that he wanted to retire on his own terms on the tennis court, instead of announcing his retirement from the comfort of a press conference.

With that single goal in mind, the World No. 664 has worked hard in practice in the last few months, steeling himself through some very bad moments with the help of his friends and family.

"Of course I have thought many times that it did not make sense to continue playing, that in the end, there have been many years, many things, many hours of work in which I did not see the result. But I still think what I said in the last press conference, that I do not deserve to end my sports career in a press room," Nadal said.

"I would like to finish in a different way, and I have fought and kept the illusion for that to happen. With doubts, with bad moments, very bad or better moments, but I think I have had the right people around me, as I have always had throughout my career: family, team, friends," he added.