Novak Djokovic says tennis needs ‘legend’ Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard announced his latest injury setback on Wednesday.
Nadal has pulled out of the Brisbane International after a MRI scan showed that he had a slight strain in his left thigh. Meaning that he has either withdrawn or retired from 12 out of his last 13 hard court tournaments. The only exception was the Rogers Cup in August, which he won. In recent time Nadal has been troubled by knee and abdominal issues. He also underwent surgery on his ankle in November.
“I did an MRI and it shows a small strain on my left thigh. I tried to play, I wanted to play, but recommendations from the doctors (were otherwise).” Nadal commented about his Brisbane withdrawal.
Despite the Spaniards misfortunes, Djokovic has backed Nadal to make a successful comeback to the tour once again. Describing him as ‘one of the greatest’ of all time. Nadal is the only male player in history to win the same grand slam tournament 11 times in singles and has won more ATP titles on the clay than anybody else in the Open Era.
“He has done the comebacks for so many times in his career that you always believe that he can do it again,” Djokovic said during his press conference at the Qatar Open yesterday.
“He has a very physical style of tennis which obviously is putting a lot of load and pressure on his joints, on his knees.
“Sport needs Rafa, no question about it. He is one of the greatest legends of all time and we want to see him play.”
Djokovic and Nadal have faced each other on the tour 52 times since the 2006 French Open. In their head-to-head, the Serbian world No.1 leads 27-25 and has won seven out of the 10 most recent meetings. Including last year’s Wimbledon semi-final clash.
Both players remain on course to play at the Australian Open. Nadal said his recent withdrawal from Brisbane was to prevent worsening his injury ahead of the Melbourne major. Meanwhile, Djokovic is getting his preparations underway at the Doha Open. The 14-time grand slam champion battled back from a set down to defeat Marton Fucsovics in the second round.
“For the first two sets he was the better player,“Djokovic said following his win over Fucsovics.
“He played really well, smart, changing up the rhythm and the pace of the ball and moving me around.
“I was kind of in a corner and I had to find my way and fight my way through.”
The Australian Open will get underway on January 14th.
