Andy Roddick thinks Rafael Nadal will be the favorite to clinch 2024 Roland Garros title if he has some matches under his belt and remains injury free.
The former US Open champion however expressed his concerns that an injury during that stage of the 22-time GS champion could contribute to a sudden end of his career.
Nadal returned to the tour at the 2024 Barcelona Open after pulling out of multiple tournaments since Brisbane International in January due to recurring hip issues. The legendary Spaniard made his return to the Brisbane Open after a hiatus of almost a year because of the hip flexor injury he picked at 2023 Australian Open that required surgery and forced him to miss the remainder season.
The former World No. 1 beat Flavio Cobolli in the opener in Barcelona before losing to Aussie ATP #11 Alex de Minaur in the R2. Nadal before his R64 match against Cobolli, haven’t played on clay since defeating Norwegian Casper Ruud at the 2022 French Open Final, exactly 681 days ago. The 12-time Barcelona champion maintains a 112-3 record at the French Open.
At the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, former World No. 1 Roddick billed Nadal to be among the leading challengers at French Open if he remains physically fit and gets right preparations.
“I will be watching and hoping that at any point nothing goes wrong. Any injury from here on out could be the last injury,” said the 20023 US Open champion.
“I still feel if he gets matches in and if he gets a clean bill of health for two or three events going into Roland Garros, [he is] certainly one of the favorites.”
Roddick also highlighted the possibility that Nadal and his great rival, Novak Djokovic, could face off in the opening round in Paris — given the Mallorcan will almost certainly be unseeded.
“Also, something that’s not talked about enough right now, he goes in [to the French Open] unseeded. We could potentially have a Rafa-Novak first round,” said the American about 37-year-old clay court maestro.
“I could tell you if I was one of the top seeds, who I would not wanna play first round, if he’s just floating in the draw, is a guy who’s won that event 14 times.”