Rafael Nadal to kick off tennis comeback in Brisbane International

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Rafael Nadal fans, are you ready?

After almost a year of tennis inactivity due to a series of injuries, the former world no. 1 male tennis player is back in competitive form and will grace the Brisbane International tournament this coming December 31, 2023.

The ATP event will run from December 31 to January 7, 2024, and will feature 32 men vying for the title including Nadal.

Aside from Nadal, former Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, former major title winner Grigor Dimitrov, and young star Holger Rune will also grace the court in Brisbane.

Some of the sport’s rising stars will also suit up in the playing court with the likes of Ben Shelton, Ugo Humbert, Sebastian Korda, and Sebastian Baez.

The Spanish legend has yet to make a comeback on the Grand Slam stage since injuring his hip flexor during the last edition of the Australian Open.

Nadal initially eyed returning to the Dubai Tennis Championships but due to his preferences, the 36-year-old superstar chose to wait a bit and revealed that he will be waiting for a clay court major tennis competition.

It was a roller coaster year for the tennis star after halting his 18-year top 10 men’s tennis ranking streak last March 2023.

Nadal, who began his streak of top 10 men’s ranking qualification in 2005, dropped to world no. 13 with only 2,715 points.

This is the lowest rank the 22-time Grand Slam champion received in 18 straight years and still holds the record of being a top 10 player for 912 consecutive weeks.

If Nadal wins more Grand Slams and major ATP tourneys, he will have the chance to re-enter the top 10 rankings while also boosting his chances of overtaking Novak Djokovic who already copped 24 Grand Slam trophies.