​Rafael Nadal will play his first official match after a one-year break, and fans of the Iberian are looking forward to seeing the former world leader on the tennis court again.

Rafael NadalPhoto: JEAN CATUFFE/DPPI / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

Rafael Nadal returns to the court in doubles on Sunday at the ATP in Brisbane

On Sunday, the last day of 2023, Rafael Nadal will play in doubles with his friend Marc Lopez, with whom he won Olympic gold in 2016 (after the final with Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau). Two Spaniards will meet with Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson.

The match will be the fourth on Center Court in Brisbane (after Rodionov – Trevisan, Siniakov – Stevens and Popirin – O’Connell) and will start around 07:30 (Romanian time).

Singles wildcard beneficiary Nadal (672nd ATP ranking) will play in the first round against a qualifier (or lucky loser).

Nadal played his last official match at the Australian Open earlier this year when he lost to Mackenzie Macdonald in the second round.

Rafa has since missed the entire season with a hip problem and underwent surgery in June this year.

Although Novak Djokovic, one of his biggest rivals in his career, has said that Rafa will return to win major titles, the Spaniard believes that he is not ready to win ATP titles at the moment.

The tournament in Brisbane will be held from December 31 to January 7. It is part of the ATP 250 category, has a total prize pool of US$739,945, and there will be 32 players in the main singles at the start, with Kei Nishikori (in 2019) as the defending champion.

Australian Open 2024 will be held from January 14 to 28 in Melbourne.

What you need to know about Rafael Nadal

  • At the age of 37, the Iberian won 1,068 career victories and lost 220 times.
  • He has 92 ATP titles won over a period of time, and 22 of them are Grand Slam tournaments (two titles behind record holder Novak Djokovic).
  • He collected $134,640,719 in tennis prizes alone.