Rafael Nadal comeback excitement toned down by Alex Corretja

Alex Correjta has poured cold water on the excitement surrounding Rafael Nadal's comeback by sharing his views on it.

Last week, Craig Tiley, the tournament director of the Australian Open, announced that Rafael Nadal will be back in action at Melbourne next year. However, the Spaniard kept his cards close to his chest and didn't spill the beans on whether the news came straight from himself.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion later took to his Twitter account to clarify his participation in the first Slam of the year. He maintained that he was putting in the work to make a strong comeback and thanked the Australian Open for believing in him.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence from the Australian Open..I am practicing every day and working hard to come back asap”, Nadal Tweeted.

Alex Corretja, a former tennis player and Nadal's compatriot, has now spoken up about his thoughts on the Spanirad's possible return to the sport. When he heard from Craig Tiley that Rafael Nadal was going to make a comeback, Corretja admitted that was quite surprised.

“I was very surprised that after Rafa took a while off, not playing tennis, I was thinking that he would be the one announcing when he’s going to be back. Which tournament he’s trying or, you know, getting ready to play. But the announcement, it took a little bit of a wrong foot for everyone: “oh, how come Craig Tiley is saying that?” he said.

Alex Crretja emphasized that if he heard anything new about a player, he would go to their official account to make sure it was true. He expected the Spaniard's return to be announced by the man himself.

“The first thing I do whenever I see “ Nadal” on the trending topics or whoever it is, I always go to his official account to see if they said something. In that case I felt like “Oh, nothing was said, that’s weird”. Then I realized and then when Rafa said, “Well, I am happy to see that they give me this confidence”. Then I realized, ok, this is going to be slowly and hopefully he’s going to announce he’s coming back,” he stated in an interview with Eurosport.

The former Spanish player believes that Rafael Nadal wouldn't know for sure when he would be returning to the tour before the mid-December, when the former World No. 1 would have a better notion of whether to participate in Melbourne or not. Corretja, however, claimed he was "desperately" waiting for the 37-year-old's return to the tour.

“But I am not expecting that before the middle of December, maybe, because that would be pretty much the time that I believe that he pretty much will know if he’s ready to start the season in Australia or not. But if he does that before that would be awesome. We are waiting for Rafa desperately,” Corretja said.

“I could see him playing a highly abbreviated schedule”- Tennis Journalist on Rafael Nadal

2023 Australian Open - Day 3

Recently, tennis journalist Jon Wertheim speculated that Rafael Nadal might retire after the 2024 French Open.

Nadal has been out of action since the 2023 Australian Open, when he hurt his hip. Rumors about whether or not the Spaniard will make his tour return at the 2024 Melbourne Major have been contradictory.

According to Wertheim, the Spaniard will be unable to return to top form and will likely retire after the claycourt Major.

"He can come back but if he can’t come back at peak, who’s going to be favorite to win Roland Garros... he has always obviously loved the European clay. I could see him playing a highly abbreviated schedule… Barcelona, Madrid, maybe throw in Monte Carlo, and calling it a career at Roland Garros 2024," Wertheim said.

Despite not being a heavy favorite to win tournaments, Wertheim insisted that Rafael Nadal will still work hard to have a successful season.

"Even if he is not really a contender to win titles, my sense is he's going to give this thing one more shot. If that means being a 70% Rafa [who] can still go and get a send-off and have a final sort of savor, and give fans one last memory... I think he's ready to do that," he added.