Rafael Nadal says he has the ‘highest motivation’ to get off to a good start in 2023 ahead of his title defence at the Australian Open next month.
Nadal, who has won a record 22 Grand Slam titles, is among a series of high-profile players participating in the inaugural United Cup which is a mixed event taking place across three cities. The Spanish team will play Great Britain and Australia in the group stages over the coming week for a chance to progress to the knockout stages.
The world No.2 is hoping that he will be able to replicate the success he enjoyed down under 12 months ago when he won 12 consecutive matches, claiming titles in Melbourne and at the Australian Open.
“Always the beginning of the season is exciting,” atptour.com quoted Nadal as saying during Spain’s pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday. “For everybody [it] is a new thing, all the doubts, how things [are] going to go. Even if I don’t know how many seasons I have on the Tour, beginnings are always different.
“[I have the] highest motivation to try to start well. It’s always important to start well for me, for the confidence. [The] past few months haven’t been easy for me. I just try to have the right practice here before the tournament starts. Then of course, try to help the team. [The] main thing for me now is [to] recover the positive feelings on court, being competitive. I hope to. I am ready to make that happen, but let’s see.”
Whilst Nadal’s current focus is on the United Cup, his ultimate goal will be at the Australian Open where he will be trying to do something he is yet to achieve in his career. Besides the French Open, he is yet to win the same major event two years in a row.
At the age of 36, some are starting to wonder how much longer the Spaniard will continue playing on the Tour. He is currently the oldest player in the world’s top 40 and the second-oldest in the top 100 after John Isner who is a year older than him. Besides his age, Nadal has also had to endure various battles with injury and has a chronic foot problem called Mueller-Weiss syndrome.
“Hopefully not. I mean, when you are at the age of 36, you never know when going to be the last one,” he replied when asked if his appearance at Melbourne Park next month could be his last.
“It’s obvious, but don’t like to talk about that because I am not in that mood now.
“Just focus on and try to play at the highest level possible and give myself the possibility to keep being competitive, to fight for anything.
“That’s my goal now.”
One of those challenging Nadal for the Australian Open title will be nine-time winner Novak Djokovic who made a low-key arrival into the country on Tuesday. The Serbian was originally banned from returning to Australia for three years in January 2022 after getting deported following a legal battle over the legitimacy of his visa with the High Court ruling in favour of the government.
It remains to be seen how the public will react to Djokovic’s return but Nadal believes his presence is a positive for the sport.
“Novak is here. Good for tennis, good for probably the fans,” he commented.
“Let’s see, no? Best players on court always win.”
Nadal is set to play his first match in the United Cup on Monday against Alex de Minaur. He was originally scheduled to play Nick Kyrgios who has since pulled out of the competition as a precautionary measure.
