(Madrid) Rafael Nadal, who plans to return to the courts in January at the Brisbane tournament in Australia, said Wednesday that he only aspires to “be competitive”, almost a year after having played his last match.

“I know it’s a tough tournament, but I hope to be ready to play, I don’t aspire to anything else, just to be competitive,” Nadal, 37, said in a new video posted on his social networks.

The former world No.1, who fell to 664th in the ATP, announced last Friday his return to competition during the ATP 250 tournament in Brisbane (December 31 to January 7), after an almost blank 2023 season due to a hip injury.

The last match of the Spaniard, winner of 22 Grand Slam tournaments, was his defeat in the second round of the Australian Open last January.

“I think I’m ready to come back, I don’t know at what level, I don’t know what to expect, I have no idea, but I don’t care,” Nadal said.

After the hip operation he underwent, “the horizon changed, the path was difficult” according to the Majorcan. “There were a lot of doubts, there were times when it seemed impossible that this day would come, but I kept the motivation and the hope” of coming back, he added.