Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz expect Rafael Nadal to return to his ‘top level’ for Brisbane International

Both Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz expect to see returning star Rafael Nadal back at his best when he resumes competition in Australia.

Nadal will play at the Brisbane International, which starts on Sunday live on Sky Sports, before the Australian Open later in January.

Tennis legend Nadal’s season in 2023 was effectively wiped out by a hip injury.

Nadal suffered a muscle issue at Melbourne Park in January that required surgery and will return at Brisbane this weekend before playing in the January 14-28 Australian Open where he won two of his 22 Grand Slam titles.

The 37-year-old expects to retire in 2024 with a series of injuries limiting his appearances on the circuit but has stepped up his training in recent weeks and 24-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic said his great rival cannot be written off just yet.

“I always expect him to play at his best, to be honest,” Djokovic said before his 4-6 6-4 6-4 defeat by Alcaraz in an exhibition match in Riyadh on Wednesday.

“Many times they’ve signed him out, they’ve done that with me as well. But we’ve proved them wrong. He’s not a kind of a player who will come back to the tour just to play, let’s say, on a medium level, play a few matches.

“He wants to win titles, he wants to be the best, that’s why he is who he is: a legend of our sport. I’m sure his training and preparation is done with an intention to win a Grand Slam.”

Alcaraz, who has lost two of his three meetings with Nadal, said his compatriot was at 100 per cent after watching videos of him practising.

“I hear from other players that practised with Rafa in these past weeks and they said he’s going to return to his good level. His top level,” Alcaraz said.

However, Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya said last week that while Nadal had shown good progress in training since recovering from a hip injury, as a coach he still worries about how his body will hold up against the rigours of Grand Slam tennis.

Osaka is back too!

As well as Nadal returning for the Brisbane International, former No 1 and new mother Naomi Osaka is also preparing to come back for the tournament.

Osaka will make her WTA return at the tournament which begins Sunday at Pat Rafter Arena. A two-time Australian and US Open champion, Osaka pulled out of last year’s Australian Open in Melbourne before later revealing she was pregnant.

Osaka has only played one game since the 2021 US Open in New York. She was leading Daria Gavrilova 1-0 at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September 2021, before the Australian suffered a serious knee injury and had to retire in the match.

“She’s really pumped, excited to be back in Brisbane,” tournament director Cameron Pearson said on Wednesday. “She arrived Christmas morning and was out practicing a few hours later. No Christmas pudding for her, she was straight into it.”

The 32-man ATP field for Brisbane is so strong that Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem will have to qualify to feature in it.

Thiem made the Australian Open final in 2020 and Berrettini was a semi-finalist two years later. Both are currently sitting outside the top-60 cut-off mark which received automatic entry into the season-opening event.

Holger Rune, at No 8, is the highest-ranked male in the tournament. American Ben Shelton and three-time Grand Slam singles champion Andy Murray are also entered.

Reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko, Victoria Azarenka, Sofia Kenin and Sloane Stephens are in the 54-player women’s draw.

The Brisbane International begins in the early hours of Sunday morning, live on Sky Sports