7-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander thinks nobody wants to face Rafael Nadal in the first round of the Roland Garros despite the 14-time French Open champion’s physical troubles.
This year looks likely to be the last time Nadal appears at Paris major as he seems more than ever close to calling time on his legendary career.
Nadal compiles a mindboggling 112-3 record in Paris while racking up a whopping 14-titles at the tourney where he last won in 2022.
However, the Mallorcan was forced to withdraw form action 12 months ago and has been nursing his injuries since then. Nadal’s has had a more or less hesitant clay campaign so far as he lost to Hubert Hurkacz in straights sets in the R2 of Italian Open. Despite his shaky form and fitness, Wilander still believes Nadal could prove a formidable challenger in the early rounds.
“When he’s there practising, of course he wants to play,” said former World No. 1, speaking to Eurosport.
“But the way that he’s been speaking [in] the last few weeks, every time, after a loss or a win is that the French Open is everything to him, and he’s going to go on the court even if he’s not 100% – which I don’t think he is. I don’t think anyone at his age is.
“When he starts talking about it, you realise how important this tournament is for Rafa. [It] always has been, always will be. He was playing well enough in some of [his previous] matches, especially in Madrid.
“In Rome, he lost a close one to Hubert Hurkacz, but the score didn’t show it. He knows that he’s very close. There were a lot of close games. He just didn’t win the big points.
“So I think he’s one player that nobody wants to play in the first round. I don’t care what your name is.”
With Nadal far from his best, world No 1 Novak Djokovic not a threat anymore more to younger oppositions, and the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner also entering the draw with injury concerns, this is set to be the most open men’s draw at Roland Garros in two decades.
And Wilander – a 3-time champion at French Open himself – believes that there are a few key contenders who could take advantage of the situation.
He said: “This year’s Roland-Garros for the men is definitely the most open that we’ve seen in a very, very long time.
“I would say that this is a great situation for players like Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and even Daniil Medvedev because no one has been dominating this clay season.
“I think they feel that if Novak [Djokovic] is not playing at his best, which he [isn’t], Carlos Alcaraz hasn’t played at all, and Nadal hasn’t played that much, the best players have not shown that they are still the best players in the world.
“I think that itself gives a lot of confidence to players like Zverev and Tsitsipas. This is the year that a few players have to take this chance because it might never return where the best players are not playing great.”