Rafael Nadal will make his return to Grand Slam tennis following hip surgical procedure on the 2024 Australian Open, event CEO Craig Tiley has confirmed.
Spain’s 22-time Grand Slam champion has been out of motion since January and underwent surgical procedure in June.
Nadal, 37, has stated he plans to retire on the finish of the 2024 season.
In line with Tiley, former ladies’s champions Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki additionally plan to return after maternity breaks.
Nadal has been sidelined since injuring his hip flexor in a second-round defeat by Mackenzie McDonald at January’s Australian Open.
In asserting he would miss the French Open for the primary time in 19 years – the event the place he has received 14 of his majors – Nadal stated subsequent 12 months will “most likely” be the final 12 months of his profession.
The 2-time Australian Open champion claimed his most up-to-date Slam at Roland Garros in 2022. Novak Djokovic has since taken his main males’s tally to 24.
“We will reveal completely right here that Rafa might be again,” Tiley stated.
“He is been off for a lot of the 12 months and in speaking to him over the previous couple of days he confirmed he might be again, which we’re actually enthusiastic about, the champion of 2022. That is superior.”
On the anticipated return of Osaka, Kerber and Wozniacki, Tiley added: “We’ll welcome them – and their households – again to Melbourne with open arms and may’t wait to see what their subsequent chapter brings.”
On the 2023 event, Novak Djokovic received a record-extending tenth title and Aryna Sabalenka received her first Grand Slam singles title.