Thousands of fans lined Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall on Friday morning, where Rafael Nadal made a special appearance.
During a Q&A session, the former world No.1 spoke about his tour comeback after an almost one-year absence.
“I am feeling good. I can't complain,” Nadal shared with an excited crowd.
“I’m feeling much better today than what I expected a month ago.”
Yet the 22-time Grand Slam champion is keeping expectations tempered ahead of his competitive return at this week’s Brisbane International.
“For me, it's impossible to think about winning tournaments,” he said.
“But what's really possible, is to try to enjoy the comeback to the courts. I don't expect much. Honestly, the only thing that I expect is to be able to go on court, to feel competitive and to give my best.
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“It’s going to be a tough process at the beginning. At the end, it’s one year without being on the tennis court and I just have been practising for the last month in a very good intensity.
“I don't say that nothing is impossible, but just to be here is a victory.”
Nadal revealed it was having the opportunity to compete that he had missed most while sidelined with a hip injury.
“Of course, when you are not on the court, you miss a few things,” he said. “At the end of the day this is something that I did for almost all my life. So, when you are not able to compete, of course you miss the competition, you miss the fans, you miss playing in the best stadiums, going out and seeing the court full.
“What I missed the most was probably the feeling that you are ready to compete, that you feel ready to enjoy and to go for it.”
Nadal declared he was not setting “super long-term goals, because I don't see myself playing for a super long time.”
“(I want to) try to give myself the opportunity to be more and more competitive as the season goes on,” he said.
“I am not the player that that tries to predict what kind of things can happen in the short-term and it’s even tougher in a medium period of time.
“How I need to approach this process is accepting the adversity and that things aren’t going to be perfect at the beginning. I just have to stay with the right attitude and the working spirit every day.”