(Melbourne) Rafael Nadal, absent for more than eight months, will make his return to the Grand Slam during the Australian Open in January, said Wednesday Craig Tiley, the director of the tournament in which the Spanish champion should participate for the last time.

“I appreciate this mark of confidence from the Australian Open… I train every day and I work hard to come back as quickly as possible,” Nadal reacted on X (ex-Txitter), without explicitly confirming his presence in Melbourne.

The winner of 22 Grand Slam titles has not played since the last Australian Open in January 2023 and his defeat in the second round against the American Mackenzie McDonald, due to a hip injury.

The 37-year-old has undergone two surgeries in the meantime and declared last month that the 2024 season was going to be his last.

“Our 2022 champion Rafael Nadal has been working hard on his comeback for most of the year,” said Tiley, who also expects that local champion Nick Kyrgios may also have returned in time from injury to the first Grand Slam of the year.

“I have been in contact with his (Nadal’s) team and he is back on the courts. He can’t wait to come back to Melbourne,” said Craig Tiley.

Nadal has so far never communicated the date of an official return to competition.

“I said that it was possible that 2024 would be my last year, I maintain that, but I cannot confirm it 100% because I don’t know,” declared the winner of fourteen Roland-Garros in September, in an interview with the Movistar channel , saying he was “impatient to play again and be competitive again.”

“But the idea is not to come back to win Roland Garros or the Australian Open. Let people not be surprised, all this is a long way away, I am aware of the difficulties I encounter,” continued the Spaniard, referring to his “age” and his “physical problems”.