The Spaniard Rafael Nadal, absent from world tennis for almost a year, will face a player from the qualifications for his return to competition during the first round of the Brisbane tennis tournament, a preparation competition for the Australian Open during which the Japanese Naomi Osaka also returns to the courts, according to the draw made on Saturday.
The date of the meeting (Sunday or Monday) and the name of the opponent of the 37-year-old former world number one, winner of 22 Grand Slam tournaments, will be known later, with the qualifications due to end on Saturday afternoon . Among the players currently competing in this qualifying phase are the Austrian Dominic Thiem and the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, two former World Top 10 players.
Nadal has not played since his defeat at the Australian Open in January 2023, after which he underwent two hip operations which took him away from the courts and almost caused the end of his career. His return to Brisbane, a tournament for which he obtained a “wild card”, is eagerly awaited as he could play his last season.
Nadal: “Being here is already a victory for me”
“I feel good”he declared Friday during a promotional event in Brisbane, while specifying that he “don’t expect much” of his return to competition. “I’m not going to complain, I feel much better than I could have hoped for a month ago, but in my opinion it’s impossible to think about winning tournaments today.” “Nothing is impossible, but for me, just being here is a victory”he added.
Osaka facing the 84th in the world
Another highly anticipated return: that of the Japanese Naomi Osaka, who has not played since the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September 2022, faced in particular with mental health concerns, and who also had a child in July. “Right after Tokyo, for about a month, I thought about retiring because I felt like all my joy for this sport had gone”she said on Saturday in Brisbane. “But I told myself that I had been playing tennis since I was three years old and there was still so much I wanted to do.”
“The time I spent outside made me appreciate sport more”continued the former world number one to four Grand Slam titles (two Australian Opens and two US Opens). “I think that becoming a mother has changed my state of mind a lot. (…) I am much more open-minded, much more patient, but I also feel much stronger physically”she added.
Naomi Osaka will also make her return to Brisbane.
Credit: Getty Images
Naomi Osaka, who also benefited from a “wild card” in Brisbane, will face the German Tamara Korpatsch, 84th player in the world, in the first round. “I’m nervous, I haven’t played a match in a long time, but I’m competitive, so I think I’m nervous and I want to win”Osaka said.
The WTA 500 and ATP 250 in Brisbane run from December 31 to January 7. These meetings are widely used by players as preparation for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season a week later.