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Rafael Nadal will return to tennis at the Brisbane International before a potential appearance at the Australian Open – where he was beaten in the second round last January, before going on to spend the rest of the year in rehabilitation. After so long away though, Nadal is keen to temper expectations. The Spaniard has won 22 Grand Slam titles in his career.
Rafael Nadal has revealed his fears and expectations for himself ahead of his return to the court as he enters “unexplored terrain” in his career.
The Spaniard has been out of action since January due to injury, but will make his comeback at the Brisbane International.
Tennis fans around the world had been awaiting news of when they would see Nadal competing again, but the Spaniard admits he was nervous to pre-empt his recovery.
“I have been afraid to announce things because in the end it’s a year without competing and it’s a hip operation,” he said, in a video published on his social media.
“But what worries me the most is not the hip, it’s everything else.
“I think I’m ready and I trust and hope that things go well and that it gives me the opportunity to enjoy myself on the court.
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“It’s been a long time so I hope, first of all, to feel again those nerves, that illusion, those fears, those doubts,” Nadal said.
A positive return in Brisbane could see the 22-time Grand Slam champion then travel across to Melbourne to compete in the first major of the year at the Australian Open.
However, he says, for the first time in his career, he is trying not to put pressure on himself.
“I expect from myself not to expect anything. This is the truth. To have the ability not to demand myself what I have demanded from myself throughout my career.
“I believe I’m in a different moment, in a different situation and in an unexplored terrain.
“I have internalised what I have had throughout my life, which is to demand from myself the maximum.
And right now what I really hope is to be able not to do that, not to demand the maximum, to accept that things are going to be very difficult at the beginning and to give myself the necessary time and forgive myself if things go wrong at the beginning, which is a very big possibility.
“But knowing that there may be a not-too-distant future which things can change if I keep the illusion and the spirit of work and the physique responds to me without any doubt,” he said.
