Former Grand Slam winner John McEnroe raised concerns about Rafael Nadal’s fitness saying that the Spaniard may not even play his favourite French Open after his latest injury that forced him to pull out of Australia Open 2024.
Nadal, 37, marked his much-awaited return after a 12-month-long absence at Brisbane International at the start of this year, and played one double and two singles matches before confirming he suffered a new muscle injury.
McEnroe, who won seven Grand Slams in his illustrious career, believed that Rafa wanted to participate in the Australian Open to be completely prepared for Roland Garros. But his latest injury halted his plans and as per McEnroe, the Spaniard may retire before the start of Wimbledon.
“I’m not even remotely comparing myself to Rafa, but in my mind the few times I played Australia was to sort of get ready for the rest of the year,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion told ESPN.
“The timing was tough to seemingly to be able to put all the chips on the table early on. Players have now accepted that the Australian Open has gotten closer in importance with Wimbledon and the US. When I was playing, the top guys didn’t even play. It’s come a long way.”
Nadal has won the French Open for 14 times, more than any other player in the history and is regarded by many as “The King of Clay”.
“I think Rafa was hoping, ‘Hopefully I’ll be ready for the French, see if my body holds up there.’,” McEnroe said. “If it doesn’t, I think you’ll see him not play anymore. We’re all obviously hopeful he can because Rafa has been amazing for the game. We’d like to see him as long as we can.”
The 22-time Grand Slam winner has not yet revealed a potential return date but he is scheduled to play an exhibition match on March 3 against Carlos Alcaraz in The Netflix Slam.