Rafael Nadal 'not 100%' but 'nobody wants to play' him in French Open, says Mats Wilander
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ByOli Gent
Published 22/05/2024 at 16:33 GMT
Eurosport expert Mats Wilander believes that 37-year-old Rafael Nadal can still be a force at this year's French Open, with the clay-court Grand Slam being "one of the most open we've seen in a long, long time". Nadal, who has won the tournament a record 14 times, has had numerous injury problems throughout 2023 and 2024, but has returned for one final hurrah on his favoured surface.
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Eurosport expert Mats Wilander believes that, although “not 100%”, Rafael Nadal is “playing well enough” that “nobody wants to play” him at the upcoming French Open.
The Spaniard is the record 14-time champion at Roland-Garros, but is coming off a long injury lay-off after constant hip niggles have kept him out of action for much of 2023 and 2024.
Nadal, now the world No. 276, had tried to make his initial comeback to the tour at the start of the season in Brisbane, but another injury issue forced him to miss the calendar’s first Grand Slam at the Australian Open.
However, the ‘King of Clay’ has done all he can to return for the final time in his glittering career to his favourite surface, and Wilander believes that although perhaps not entirely in one piece physically, the 37-year-old is still a force to be reckoned with on the Parisian dirt.
"I'm very confident that Rafael is going to try [and] play,” Wilander said. “When he's there practising, of course he wants to play, but the way that he's been speaking [in] the last few weeks, every time, after a loss or a win is that the French Open is everything to him, and he's going to go on the court even if he's not 100% - which I don't think he is. I don't think anyone at his age is.
“When he starts talking about it, you realise how important this tournament is for Rafa. [It] always has been, always will be. He was playing well enough in some of [his previous] matches, especially in Madrid.
“In Rome, he lost a close one to Hubert Hurkacz, but the score didn't show it. He knows that he's very close. There were a lot of close games. He just didn't win the big points. So I think he's one player that nobody wants to play in the first round. I don't care what your name is."
Nadal reached the fourth round of the Madrid Masters, his home tournament, coming through 10th seed Alex de Minaur in a gruelling second-round encounter, avenging his previous defeat by the Australian in the second round in Barcelona.
He was taken the distance by tricky Argentine Pedro Cachin in the next, before falling to the 30th seed Jiri Lehecka in straight sets in the last 16.
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In Rome, he survived a first-set scare against Zizou Bergs, the unseeded Belgian, to advance into the second round, but he was defeated by the strong-serving and heavy-hitting Pole Hurkacz, the seventh seed in the Italian capital.
Despite the recent dominance of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz at previous Grand Slams, Wilander says that this year’s French Open is “the most open we’ve seen in a long, long time”.
'Most open' French Open in a 'very long time'
"This year's Roland-Garros for the men is definitely the most open that we've seen in a very, very long time. I would say that this is a great situation for players like Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and even Daniil Medvedev because no one has been dominating this clay season.
"I think they feel that if Novak [Djokovic] is not playing at his best, which he [isn’t], Carlos Alcaraz hasn't played at all, and Nadal hasn't played that much, the best players have not shown that they are still the best players in the world.
“I think that itself gives a lot of confidence to players like Zverev and Tsitsipas. This is the year that a few players have to take this chance because it might never return where the best players are not playing great."
Djokovic, Nadal’s old nemesis and current world No. 1, has lost the excellent form that he showed in 2023, where he won three Grand Slams - the Australian Open, French Open and US Open - but he was beaten by Alcaraz in a thrilling Wimbledon final to miss out on another calendar Slam.
He won the season-ending ATP World Tour finals in Turin, but he started 2024 disappointingly, losing out to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals in Melbourne.
Now, the 36-year-old Serb is struggling for form on clay - notoriously his weakest surface - after he was beaten by Casper Ruud in the semi-finals at Monte Carlo, before he was stunned by the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo in the second round of Rome.
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It prompted him to quickly apply for a wild card to the ATP 250 event in Geneva the week before Roland-Garros is due to start - something he has not done since 2021 - when he played in Belgrade.
Alcaraz has played just the one warm-up tournament in this clay-court swing: the Madrid Masters, where he was beaten in the last eight by a spirited Andrey Rublev.
The Spaniard, who lost in the semi-finals of last year’s French Open to Djokovic, pulled out of Monte Carlo with a right arm injury.
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You can watch every day of the 2024 French Open live and on-demand on discovery+.
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