Australian Open Director Craig Tiley announced that Rafael Nadal will play at the Australian Open 2024. to send tennis world into a frenzy. Tiley stated that after recovering from hip surgery, 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal will be on the entrance list for next year’s competition. However, Nadal’s public relations team were trying to deny it, resulting in an embarrassing mix-up for the Australian Open. It took Nadal’s personal ‘vote of confidence’ post on Instagram, to clear things up.
This is not the first time that Tiley has made such a claim. The Australian Open Director has previously announced that Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Andy Murray will participate in the tournament, and all of them did not due to an injury.
How Rafael Nadal perfectly handled messy situation created by Australian Open
It’s not the first time Tiley has built a buzz around a celebrity’s participation, only for them to be dashed. Tiley has a history of making big claims about big players, which most do not come true. Tennis stars such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Andy Murray were all in the fray but couldn’t participate, leaving fans disappointed.
There is a theory amongst some in the tennis community that Tiley uses the names of the big tennis stars to boost the ticket sales and perhaps gain more lucrative sponsor deals. This can also be a way to build the excitement towards the first Grand Slam of the new season. The Australian has a track record of doing such announcements. Fans might be very cautious about falling in the same trap again.
Andy Murray and Serena Williams were said to participate in 2018 but backed out before the start of the competition. Murray did something similar in 2020 while the story was the same for Serena in 2022 as well. Roger Federer too made Craig Tiley answerable ahead of the 2021 Australian Open.
Tiley was also under the microscope for the infamous Novak Djokovic visa fiasco. The Australian promised Djokovic about his participation at the AO in 2022 but was later not allowed to participate.
Now, Tiley has made a statement about Rafael Nadal and the Spaniard took it upon himself to clear the air. In a well-crafted Instagram post, the 37-year-old neither confirmed nor denied his participation in the AO 2024, but did admit that he is trying his best to be available very soon.
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As the world awaits Rafael Nadal’s comeback, the Spaniard will be hoping to make it a successful one. The 22-time Grand Slam winner won on his comeback Grand Slam at the Australian Open 2022 and would be hoping for a similar result in 2024.
Nadal injury and ranking update
Rafael Nadal has missed most of the 2023 season due to a hip injury earlier this year. It took Nadal took 5 months until he could have a successful surgery. Now with the season almost done, the 37 year-old will be aiming for a strong comeback.
Nadal has admitted that he struggled a lot with this injury and found it difficult to even walk down the stairs in his house. A father now, Nadal also added that he sometimes fails to hold his infant son on his back for too long. Even Carlos Alcaraz talked about Nadal’s struggles recently and hoped to see him back on the court soon.
According to the ATP rankings, Rafael Nadal is currently ranked 240 in the world, due to almost missing the full season. Following his Instagram post, there are talks about a potential comeback from Nadal soon. It will be interesting to see if the Spaniard participates in an ATP 250 Challenger event or the United Cup Down Under before entering the Australian Open.
