Rafael Nadal is waiting on the results of medical tests – a familiar experience across his 23-year career – after feeling discomfort in his left thigh during a gruelling three-set defeat in Brisbane.

Nadal should really have closed out a win over world No 55 Jordan Thompson in straight sets, but three match points escaped him. Forced into a decider, he required a medical timeout, and eventually slid to a 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 defeat in three hours and 25 minutes.

Speaking at the post-match press-conference, Nadal acknowledged the trouble had arisen in a similar area to the left hip injury which all but wiped out his 2023 season. He hopes, however, he is suffering from nothing more serious than an overworked muscle – an occupational hazard for a player returning from an 11-month lay-off.

“It is a very similar place to what happened last year, but different stuff,” Nadal told reporters. “Last year was tendon. [This time] I feel the muscle [is] tired. I mean, for sure is not the same like last year at all because when it happened last year, I felt something drastic immediately. Today I didn’t feel anything [until later]. The only problem is because the place is the same, you are a little bit more scared than usual.

“In ideal world, I mean, is just the muscle supercharged after a few days of effort and a very tough match. That will be the ideal thing, something that we know that can happen today. That is why I’m talking all the time that my goal is to try to be competitive in a few months.”

“I am not 100 per cent sure of anything right now”

Rafael Nadal on his loss against Jordan Thompson 🎙️🎾#Brisbanetennis pic.twitter.com/JE70FIuO9c

— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 5, 2024

Nadal has just over a week to go before the start of the Australian Open on January 14. He will no doubt be eager to play, having suggested last summer that he sees 2024 as a farewell tour.

And yet, that perspective was very much of its time. It seems entirely possible that Nadal is already refocusing his sights. The quality of his tennis this week suggests that – given a clean bill of health – he could yet return to the very peak of the sport.

As a result, he might err towards caution in these early weeks. The apparent resolution of his hip-tendon trouble should give him hope of playing further Australian Opens in years to come.

“For my side, happy the way that the week went,” said Nadal, 37, who scored straight-set wins over Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler in his first two matches before coming to grief against Thompson. “If that thing [in his thigh] is not important, is a very positive week. If something is worse than what we want, then is not that positive.

“But let’s wait. I mean, is not the day to talk about these kind of stuff. Is the day to be happy and to congratulate the opponent. Then the next couple of days, let’s see how I feel. If I don’t feel well, then we going to do a test and we going to check it. But today is the moment to be calm and to wait how I wake up tomorrow and after tomorrow, then let’s see.

“I don’t know. I mean, I hope is not important and I hope to have the chance to be practising next week and to play Melbourne. Honestly, I am not 100 percent sure of anything now.”