Rafael Nadal makes a big comeback announcement – here is what we can expect next

Kevin Palmer
Rafael Nadal Brisbane 2024
Rafael Nadal celebrates at the 2024 Brisbane International

Rafael Nadal has made the decision on his participation in the Barcelona Open and to the delight of his army of Spanish fans, the 22-time Grand Slam-winning legend will return to action on Tuesday.

Italy’s Flavio Cobolli will be his opening round opponent for what will be an eagerly anticipated first sighting of Nadal on clay courts in two years.

The 14-time French Open champion is the ultimate winner on the red dirt, with his the 37-year-old admitting he had big doubts over whether he could play when he arrived in Barcelona to practice last week.

“First training session… excited to be here these days leading up to the tournament,” he wrote on Instagram when he arrived in Barcelona last week.

“I’m here to see how you doing. Looking forward to trying to play.

“Important to say that I don’t want to confirm that I will play, hopefully I will. We shall see.”

Given his pessimistic tone, Nadal may have surprised himself by confirming in a press conference on Monday that he will play in Barcelona.

“I can’t give you an injury update because the list is long and I just want to think about what can happen,” Nadal told a press conference.

“I can only tell you that today I feel myself, enough good to be on court tomorrow and that for me is so important.

“It means a lot to me to be able to play one more time here in Barcelona, a place that I have amazing success and a lot of unforgettable memories.

“So, I am just trying to enjoy every moment and I am excited about being on court in a professional tournament again, especially here at home.”

So Nadal will be making his comeback in Barcelona after all and here is what we can expect to see from the greatest clay court player of all-time.

READ MORE: Who is Flavio Cobolli? Meet the rising star of Italian tennis set to face Rafael Nadal

WHY HAS NADAL BEEN SIDELINED?

A back problem was affecting Nadal when he played in an exhibition match against Carlos Alcaraz in Las Vegas last month and that was cited as a reason for his withdrawal from the ATP 1000 tournament at Monte Carlo last week.

He has released footage on his social media platform showing him striking ground shots with impressive venom, but his back problem has been restricting his serving.

Reportedly, Nadal was constantly asking his coaching staff for feedback on his serving during a practice set with Andrey Rublev last week, so concern over that area of his game clearly remains.

WHAT ARE HIS AMBITIONS?

Nadal would not be competing in Barcelona unless he believed he was competitive.

His incredible record on a clay court means that whenever he sets foot on this surface, he is a challenger and we can expect something pretty special from Nadal in Barcelona.

World No 1 Novak Djokovic has suggested Nadal could be a threat to win the French Open again if he is fit by the time the event at Roland-Garros gets underway and there is no doubt that this giant of the sport will have a huge aura for any opponent trying to take him on over this phase of the tennis season.

Can Nadal win the Barcelona Open title in his first event back? That might be asking too much, but there is every reason to believe he will be a formidable opponent for anyone standing in his way.

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT NADAL’S COMEBACK

Novak Djokovic, World No 1: “We all know what he’s done on clay in his career, particularly Roland Garros.

“That’s his goal, we all know that, he’s been saying it. For the sake of all tennis and Roland Garros in particular, we hope that he can play there. It would be great to have another great encounter.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas, newly crowned Monte Carlo Masters champion: “I would say that Rafa, regardless of whether he hasn’t played at all or if that’s his first tournament, we all know what Rafa is capable of and how quickly he can adjust to one of his favourite surfaces, which is a clay court,” said Tsitsipas.

“I would not be surprised if we saw Rafa be in the finals of Barcelona, because that is something that he has done over and over again for years and years and years.

“What he does have is this competitiveness and this fierce tennis when he gets into the momentum that sometimes feels like on the outside perspective like unstoppable.

“On court, things feel different, because you get the feeling of his ball. When you’re watching, you just get a visual sensation, but I have all six sensations enabled and activated when I have to face him. I think he’s the ultimate challenge on clay.

“Whether he’s playing now at let’s say later stages of his career or the ones before, I think what he has now that he didn’t before is experience, and he for sure knows ways to win points and to prevail in more economy mode than he was before.”

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