Craig Tiley reveals Rafael Nadal’s response to 2025 Australian Open question – ‘If I’m feeling good, I’ll be back’

The Spaniard made his long-awaited return to singles action at the Brisbane International, but suffered a micro tear of a hip muscle during his third-round loss to Jordan Thompson that ruled him out of the first Grand Slam of the year.

Nadal missed the majority of 2023 with a separate hip flexor issue that required surgery and admitted there was a chance this year could be his last on tour.

However, Tiley offered encouragement to fans hoping to see the 22-time Grand Slam champion back competing in Melbourne in the future.

“He didn’t say no [to playing in the Australian Open next year]. His reaction was, ‘If I’m playing, feeling good and not injured, I’ll be back’.”

Nadal insisted he “really wanted to play” in his first Grand Slam since exiting last year’s Australian Open in the second round, but admitted he wasn’t “ready to compete at the maximum level” in five-set matches.

The good news is that he confirmed his latest injury isn’t related to the issue that kept him sidelined in 2023.

Nadal has been plagued by injuries throughout his career but returned in Brisbane in style with straight-set wins over Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler.

He proved he still possesses all the necessary skills to compete at the highest level but continues to be hampered by his physical ailments.

Wilander said he hopes that whatever happens, Nadal is able to make his final bow on his own terms while he is healthy.

“We want him to be able to say farewell, of course. I’m not really sure what that farewell is supposed to look like,” Wilander said.

“Obviously, we had maybe one of the greatest farewells ever with Roger Federer at the Laver Cup in the O2 Arena. It wasn’t unexpected that he was eventually going to say farewell but it wasn’t a very serious day of tennis.

“Maybe we won’t get the same farewell. For me, all I really want to see from Rafa Nadal is that he says farewell when he wants to say farewell, not when he’s forced to say farewell, and I think at the moment the injury world is not being very kind.”