The talk about tennis legend Rafael Nadal’s upcoming return to competitive tennis is picking up steam. The 22-time Grand Slam winner has been sidelined for the past 10 months, but Toni Nadal is optimistic that his nephew Rafael will compete at the Australian Open next year. However, he joked that the Spaniard will require some assistance from players like Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic if he is to have a good run at the tournament.

The 37-year-old underwent surgery in June after suffering a hip injury during his Australian Open second-round loss this year. Although Rafael Nadal has expressed uncertainty about his ability to play in Australia, his uncle Toni, who was once his coach, is optimistic and made a joke about the former world number one needing his fierce rivals Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, and Alcaraz to lose badly.

Toni revealed this news during an interview and said: “He wants to play the Australian Open. I have seen in the last few days that he is practicing. He’s practicing much better. Now what we need is an injury to Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, and maybe Medvedev. We need them to have a lot of problems, then Rafa can play very well.”

He added: “Rafael wants to play, and a few weeks ago, my son asked him what happened this year, and he said he had injuries this year and wants to have a very good year [in 2024]. It is the dream of my nephew [to have a good year next year] because he wants to retire and he wants to play competitively one more year. We have to wait, but we have to wait.”

Toni Nadal jokes that if Alcaraz, Djokovic, & Medvedev get injured, Rafa can have good results:

“He wants to play the Australian Open. I’ve seen him practicing these last few days. He’s practicing much better. Now what we need is an injury of Alcaraz, Djokovic, & maybe Medvedev.… pic.twitter.com/5FJV3mI9Pm

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 21, 2023

Novak Djokovic in 2023

Ranked world no.1, Djokovic played his last match on the 15^th of September when he defeated world no.26 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 6-4 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).

At present, during this year Djokovic achieved a composed 46-5 win-loss record. Djokovic clinched 5 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open, French Open, Cincinnati and U.S. Open. Novak reached the final in Wimbledon.

Djokovic will play next in Paris (Rolex Paris Masters). He will begin to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 30th of October.

Carlos Alcaraz in 2023

Now the world no.2, Carlos played his last match on the 11^th of October when he lost to world no.16 Grigor Dimitrov 5-7 6-2 6-4 in the 4^th round in Shanghai (draw).

Presently, during this year the Spaniard owns an overall 63-9 match record. Alcaraz clinched 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. Carlos reached the final in Rio de Janeiro and Cincinnati.

He is also scheduled to play in Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) after Basel. The main draw will start on the 23rd of October.

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz played each other 4 times. Their current record is 2-2. Before, the last time they competed against each other, Novak Djokovic won 5-7 7-6(7) 7-6(4) in the final in Cincinnati (Western & Southern Open) on the 20^th of August 2023.

You can watch the highlights in the following video.

Rafael Nadal in 2023

Ranked no.243, the Spaniard played his last match on the 18^th of January when he surrendered to world no.37 Mackenzie Mcdonald 6-4 6-4 7-5 in the 2^nd round in the Australian Open (draw).

At present, during this year the Spaniard has a 1-3 win-loss record.