'Determined' Rafael Nadal embracing the unknown on return to tennis: 'I don't know what's going to happen'

With thousands of fans greeting him in Brisbane city centre, Rafael Nadal climbed onto stage with a smile, a wave, a few selfies and plenty of autograph keepsakes.

And the lingering question: Is this the tennis legend's final season?

"The problem about saying that [this is] going to be my last season is I can't predict what's going on 100 per cent in the future," Nadal told reporters a couple days later at the Brisbane International, one of a number of Australian Open warm-up tournaments.

"That's the thing. That's why I say 'probably'."

"I can't predict how I'm going to be in the next six months," added the 22-time major champion and double Olympic gold medallist. "I can't predict if my body will allow me to enjoy tennis as much as I enjoyed the past 20 years. I don't know if my body will allow me to be competitive."

It's been nearly a year since Nadal last played a competitive event, felled by a hip injury at last year's Australian Open which would eventually require surgery.

After announcing in May that he would miss the French Open - the tournament he has won a record 14 times - for the first time since 2004, he told Spanish reporters that 2024 would probably be his last year with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games being played on his favoured clay surface.

The new season has arrived and so has Nadal, 37, with patented blunt honestly and optimism.

"Here we are," he said, smiling. "I don't know what's going to happen. The only thing is that I am happy I am here in a position to come back again on the professional tour. You never know what's [coming] when that happens. I am excited about what can happen."

Rafael Nadal: 'I had the determination to keep going'

Nadal has been a key character in what many have called 'the golden generation' of men's tennis, featuring fellow future Hall of Famers in Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Sidelined for the majority of the 2023 season, Nadal missed his beloved Roland-Garros but made the decision to undergo surgery, which he said was critical for any chance to continue his career.

The Spanish superstar said that thoughts of retirement lingered, with his rival and close friend Federer hanging up his rackets in September of 2022.

"Of course, yes," Nadal said in response to a query about retirement. "I had to go through a lot of things to be back. Sometimes, of course, in the low moments, it's 100 per cent human that you put yourself in [that] position.

"I was asking to myself [those questions], but at some point I decided to keep going, no? I had the determination to keep going."

He continued: "When I have that determination, I know sometimes going to be a painful process in terms of working without knowing how the things going to be. But then I just tried to work day-by-day without thinking much, just doing the things that I had to do, expect the things goes well."

Nadal on Andy Murray: 'He demonstrates an amazing passion'

Nadal has already played doubles in Brisbane. On Sunday (31 December), he and Marc Lopez, who he partnered at Rio 2016 to win gold, lost their opening doubles match.

Unsurprisingly, he received a raucous reception from the Australian crowd - much like the one he had on Queen Street in Brisbane.

He makes his competitive singles return on Tuesday against 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem.

The pair know each other well with the Austrian, who is also trying to return to the top, runner-up to Nadal at Roland-Garros in 2018 and 2019.

The week in Brisbane has already been a refreshing one for the veteran who has been greeted by cheers wherever he goes while accompanied by coach Carlos Moya. He's hit with the likes of rising star Holger Rune and Murray, the two-time Olympic singles champion.

Murray had this to say of his old rival after their practice session: "It's great to have him back playing. He's obviously working extremely hard, like always. It's always very, very intense [practising] with him.

"He looked physically good."

Murray has had his own storied comeback, too, following several hip surgeries and swirling rumours around retirement. While the Scot has topped out at number 37 in the world in recent seasons, and not reached a major quarter-final since Wimbledon 2017, he continues on the tour.

"He demonstrates an amazing passion and love for the game," Nadal said of Murray. "That's the truth, no? After a very tough surgery that he went through, he holds the passion and the working spirit to be where he is today. Something very difficult.

"When you achieve all the things that Andy achieved for such a long time, and coming back knowing it will be super difficult to come back to that level of tennis and accept the challenge and accept the situation, it's something that goes beyond the tennis."

Nadal would like to channel that same motivation in 2024 - no matter the results.

"It's a very positive example of passion and positive example for the kids about how somebody who had almost everything he wanted, he achieved almost everything, he [still] holds the passion for his game and for his work at the end. That's a very positive example."

He concluded: "If I don't have the determination to do it and the passion, as [Andy does], I will not be here."