Roger Federer Speaks Out On Prospect Of Nadal Missing The French Open - UBITENNIS

Roger Federer Speaks Out On Prospect Of Nadal Missing The French Open

By Adam Addicott
3 Min Read
Roger Federer (SUI) playing against Adrian Mannarino (FRA) in the first round of the Gentlemen's Singles on Centre Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 2 Tuesday 29/06/2021. Credit: AELTC/Jed Leicester

Swiss tennis great Roger Federer believes it would be ‘brutal’ for tennis if Rafael Nadal is unable to play at this year’s French Open. 

Nadal, who has won Roland Garros a record 14 times, faces a race against time to be fit for the Grand Slam which will get underway at the end of this month. The Spaniard hasn’t played a match on the Tour since his second round loss at the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury. Initially, it was estimated that it would take him eight weeks to recover from the injury but the process has taken considerably longer. The exact problem Nadal is suffering from relates to an issue with his psoas muscle in his lower abdomen and upper right leg. 

Despite the setback, Federer says he is hopeful that his former rival will be fit in time for Paris. The two tennis titans have played each other 40 times on the Tour with the king of clay winning 24 of those meetings. Nine of their clashes were in a Grand Slam final. 

“It would be brutal (Nadal not being there), it would be tough for tennis if Rafa isn’t going to be there,” Federer told Sky Sports on Sunday whilst at the F1 Miami Grand Prix.
“I still hope so, I saw he pulled out of Rome so I wish him the best.
“Obviously Novak hasn’t been playing that much so I hope he’s going to be strong as well and then all the young guys coming through as well.
“I’ll be watching that’s for sure.”

In Nadal’s latest update concerning his fitness last week, the former world No.1 says there ‘has been an improvement in recent days’ but says his lack of intense training resulted in him deciding not to play in Rome this week. It is the first time he has missed both Rome and Madrid in the same season since 2004.

Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya recently dismissed a suggestion that a lack of match play could hinder the tennis star when he returns to action. During an interview with L’Equipe, Moya appeared cautiously optimistic about the ongoing recovery process.

“We are a little sad that he hasn’t played on clay yet,” said Moya. “He is not the worst, but we try to encourage him and are always optimistic. I think it’s an urban legend that Nadal needs a lot of matches to be ready, when he came back from injury he always achieved good results.”

Nadal has made 18 consecutive appearances at the French Open. The last time he missed the event was back in 2004. 

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