Tournament chief Craig Tiley confirms Rafa Nadal's Australian Open return

Rafa Nadal will return to Grand Slam tennis at the Australian Open in January, tournament director Craig Tiley has revealed.

The 37-year-old former world number one has been sidelined since hurting his hip flexor in a second-round loss to Mackenzie McDonald at the Melbourne Park major earlier this year.

The Spaniard, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, was initially expected to miss eight weeks but underwent surgery on a hip muscle in June.

While Nadal's representative Benito Perez-Barbadillo told Reuters via text from Shanghai that there was nothing to announce yet on the Spaniard's upcoming schedule, Tiley told Nine Network's 'The Today Show' that he had confirmed his participation.

"We can reveal exclusively here that Rafa will be back," Tiley said.

"He's been off for most of the year and in talking to him over the last few days he confirmed he will be back, which we're really excited about, the champion of 2022. That's awesome."

Tiley also said Australian Nick Kyrgios could return in time to play at Melbourne Park after he underwent knee surgery in January and suffered wrist and foot issues in an injury-plagued 2023.

"We know Nick's been in training, wanting to return as well. So we expect to see him back," he added.

Tiley said a trio of former women's champions - Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki - were also planning to return to the year's first Grand Slam after maternity breaks.

"We'll welcome them - and their families - back to Melbourne with open arms and can't wait to see what their next chapter brings," he added.

Nadal has said he expects to retire after the 2024 season, with a series of injuries limiting his appearances on Tour.

He dropped out of the top 100 for the first time in 20 years earlier in the