Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka in Australia comebacks as Novak Djokovic targets more glory

SYDNEY – Rafael Nadal returns from a “winding, tortuous” injury journey in Brisbane this week, while fellow superstar Novak Djokovic is in Perth to kick-start his bid for an unprecedented 11th Australian Open title.

It appeared last season that the tennis veterans, with 46 Grand Slam crowns between them, may never share a competitive court again. But the prospect is back in play with Spanish great

Nadal recovering from hip operations that sidelined him for almost a year.

He begins what is set to be a farewell season at the Brisbane International from Dec 31 to Jan 7 alongside Andy Murray and world No. 8 Holger Rune.

Top-ranked Djokovic has opted for the mixed-team United Cup in Perth and Sydney, starting on Dec 29, as have fellow top-10 players Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz.

Barring last-minute setbacks, Nadal and Djokovic will then grace the courts of Melbourne Park for the Australian Open from Jan 14, perhaps for the last time together.

Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, has not played since a second-round loss to American Mackenzie McDonald at the 2023 Australian Open, leading to what his coach Carlos Moya said was “a winding, tortuous road, with many curves”.

Now 37, Nadal said he expects “nothing” from himself this time around.

“I have internalised what I have had throughout my life, which is demand (from) myself the maximum,” he said in announcing his return. “Right now what I really hope is to be able not to do that, to accept things are going to be very difficult at the beginning and give myself the necessary time.”

Since being sidelined, Nadal has been overtaken in the total number of Grand Slam tournaments won by his Serbian arch-rival, who is targeting a record-extending 25th Major title in Melbourne.

The 36-year-old Djokovic won three Grand Slams in 2023, but ended the season with two losses to burgeoning Italian Jannik Sinner at the Davis Cup.

Spanish world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz also notched a sensational win over the world No. 1 in the Wimbledon final to clinch a second Grand Slam at age 20.

The fourth-ranked Sinner gets his season under way at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event in Melbourne, while Alcaraz has nothing currently scheduled before the Australian Open.

In women’s tennis, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka also makes her highly anticipated return in Brisbane, having not played since September 2022.

The Japanese star, who gave birth to daughter Shai in July and has previously struggled with her mental health, admitted she was “nervous” but “excited”.

“I definitely want to win more Grand Slams,” she said.

Like Djokovic, women’s world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek will acclimatise in Perth with her Polish teammates at the United Cup.

The French Open champion briefly surrendered her top ranking to Aryna Sabalenka in 2023 but reclaimed it with a gutsy triumph at the WTA Finals in Cancun.

“It was certainly a demanding season that taught me a lot and which makes me even more proud,” said the Polish star, an Australian Open semi-finalist in 2022.

Sabalenka is also a starter at Brisbane in a stacked field featuring eight of the world’s top 20 women as she looks to build on a sensational year, kick-started by winning her maiden Slam at Melbourne Park.

“It’s a tournament that’s attracted so many good players in the past and I’m hoping it will set me up for another successful summer,” said the Belarusian world No. 2 of the Brisbane event, where fourth-ranked Elena Rybakina, whom Sabalenka beat to win the Australian Open, will also play.

World number No. 3 Coco Gauff defends her Auckland Classic title from Jan 1, after a breakthrough season for the 19-year-old that saw her claim her first Grand Slam at the US Open.

She is joined in New Zealand by Elina Svitolina and Caroline Wozniacki, as they continue their comebacks from maternity leave, while former US Open champion Emma Raducanu returns from multiple ankle and wrist operations. AFP