‘He wants to win titles’ – Djokovic confident Nadal can be Grand Slam contender on return

Updated 27/12/2023 at 15:53 GMT

Novak Djokovic is not taking any challenge lightly from Rafael Nadal, as the Spaniard prepares to make his comeback at the Brisbane Open ahead of the first Grand Slam of the calendar year in Melbourne. Many have quelled the hype surrounding Nadal’s highly-anticipated return at the Australian Open, including the man himself and Boris Becker. But Djokovic is wary of the challenge Nadal poses.

‘Confidence is growing’ – Djokovic eyes more success at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic insists Rafael Nadal will be a threat at next month’s Australian Open despite almost a year on the sidelines.

However, Djokovic is backing the 22-time Grand Slam winner to quickly find his feet again in Melbourne.

“I always expect him [Nadal] to play at his best, to be honest,” Djokovic told reporters ahead of an exhibition match in Riyadh with Carlos Alcaraz.

“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 that 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 that his training and preparation is done with an intention to win a Grand Slam.”

Threat of drawing unseeded Nadal will be ‘pretty crazy’ – Fritz

Those sentiments were echoed by Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who believes the 37-year-old is already training at the highest level.

“I saw some videos of him practising, he’s 100%,” Alcaraz added.

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

“I think he’s ready for great things this year as well.”

‘We want to see a healthy Rafa’ – Djokovic eager to see return of great rival Nadal

While Djokovic and Alcaraz are expecting Nadal to hit the ground running, Boris Becker is taking a more cautious approach to the Spaniard’s return.

“He will then concentrate on the clay-court tournaments early on. He’ll definitely play Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and maybe even Rome in order to be 100% fit again in Paris.

“His goal has to be Roland Garros, and then the Olympics, both of which will be played in Paris on clay.

“But he has to play first: he will only gain match fitness and match practice by playing in matches.

“So, he has to suffer a little so that he gets better in March, April, until he can play his best game in May.”

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