Rafael Nadal who it appears to be well past of his physical prime, it looks is about to call it a day at any time.
His uncle and former coach Toni Nadal has hinted his nephew could hang the racquet. Toni who is currently working with Canadian next-gen sensation Felix Auger-Aliassime and has trained him to bag four titles and reach the ATP Finals last year. Suffering with multiple injuries in the latter half of last year and a big part of this year, Rafael Nadal has been on the sidelines as he recovers from a grade two iliopsoas injury, his ailing body sustained at the AO 2023. Consistently withdrawing from his routine calendar because of an injured foot, ruptured chest and a hurt hip, speculations have it that the retirement of the Spanish giant is nearer than ever.
While Toni did not offered any details about the falling of the curtains, he did predict that Roland Garros (French Open) where Nadal is a 14-time Champion or Madrid which he has won on five occasions, could be the potential venues. Out of the top ten for the first time in his career since 2005, the legendary clay-courter will enter Paris as World No. 13 but has not lifted the trophy in the Spanish capital since 2017.
Toni also shared his thoughts on the difficulty of retiring when you are at the top of the sport by quoting Pete Sampras’ retirement at the US Open 2002.
“It’s hard to retire winning. I think Sampras did it. I haven’t talked about that with Rafa. I don’t know how much it fits him. If he fully recovers, let him keep playing and we’ll see,” said Toni.
Meanwhile, the 36-year old has been updating Rafans with videos of him posted on social media as he enjoys his practice sessions on clay before a bid for record-extending 15th Roland Garros title. He plans for a potential return at Monte Carlo, a tourney he has aced for year. Monte Carlo begins on April 9.