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Emil Ruusuvuori thanked Rafael Nadal "for a great practice" after the two had a practice session in Spain. Ruusuvuori, ranked at No 69 in the world, seemingly had a chance to hit with Nadal on Tuesday. Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, recently confirmed Brisbane as his comeback tournament.
Since publicly revealing his comeback date, Nadal has been ramping up his preparation for his long-awaited return. Nadal's preparation for the 2024 season also included practicing with 24-year-old Ruusuvuori. "Thanks for a great practice @RafaelNadal," Ruusuvuori wrote on X.
Thanks for a great practice @RafaelNadal 🙏🏼 https://t.co/4HOVqq9ssg — Emil Ruusuvuori (@EmilRuusuvuori) December 19, 2023
Nadal practiced with Ruusuvuori, other players
This week, Richard Gasquet revealed that he recently practiced with Nadal and claimed that the Spaniard looked great in practice.
After seeing now Nadal looked on the court, former world No 7 Gasquet said he has no doubts that the former world No 1 will be competitive and win matches in his return. “He told me that it took a while for him to come back, but I felt that he was no longer in pain.
He will play well this year (in 2024). At first it takes time. But he will be competitive, I have no doubt. I don’t know if it will be in Australia, in March, in April… He will win matches, there is no doubt! In any case, he does big three-hour [training] sessions.
That’s what you need to do, play as much as possible," Gasquet told L'Equipe after practicing with Nadal. Meanwhile, Nadal claimed ahead of his comeback that he just hopes to be competitive. "I don't know at what level (he will play at), I don't know what to expect, I have no idea, but I don't care right now.
I'm just happy to be back and with great excitement to make the effort that is necessary to have fun and I believe that I will be competitive," Nadal said after announcing his Brisbane comeback.