While the tennis world is focused on Rafael Nadal’s comeback in Brisbane this week, another Grand Slam champion, Marin Cilic, is playing his first tournament after an injury-ravaged 2023 during which he thought his career might be over.

When the 2014 US Open champion injured his right knee almost exactly a year ago at the Pune tournament in India, he had no idea it would herald 12 months of pain, surgery, rehab and reflection.

But the big-serving Croatian is back on court in Hong Kong this week, wondering if the long months of treatment and the hard work to come back have all been worth it.

“Who knows?” the 6ft 6in (1.98m) Cilic told AFP at Victoria Park, the venue for this week’s Hong Kong Open.

“It was an interesting year that stopped right at the beginning,” he said.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com