Rafael Nadal has been told his fate by Boris Becker who thinks the 22-time Grand Slam champion will be going “through the valley of tears” upon his return to the tour as he warned his fans to not expect too much from the Spaniard.
After remaining on the sidelines for the most part of 2023 tennis season because of a hip injury, Nadal for the first time looks on course to make his comeback in early 2024. The upcoming 2024 Australian Open in the January next year will likely be the first event for Nadal however, the Mallorcan is still not completely sure about it.
And while everyone is talking about the long-awaited return of the 37-year-old, the former Novak Djokovic coach is calling for caution, as he warned things can go awry. Speaking on Eurosport’s Das Gelbe vom Ball, the German said that “Rafa has to go through the valley of tears” while asserting that he (Nadal) “won’t play his best tennis right away, but he has to play Australia.”
Meanwhile, Nadal has earlier stated that 2024 season will likely be is last season on the ATP tour and has expressed his desire to play as many tourneys on clay as possible while aiming to have a deep run at Parisian clay.
The 6-time Slam champion, Becker feels playing at Melbourne Park will be a key for the Spaniard to get much needed match practice before going for the last dance on clay in the clay Swing that will kick off in April.
“His big goal when he comes back is not Melbourne, but Roland-Garros,” assessed the 55-year-old.
Much like the rest of the tennis community, Becker can’t wait for the Nadal’s impending return to the tour, but he also warned of the rocky road ahead.
“First of all, it’s good news that he wants to play and is on the training field,” he said.
Becker believes Nadal will “always be the hunted” and added: “It will be a long, rocky road back. The young savages don’t sleep. They don’t say, ‘Nadal, good to see you. We’re going to let you win now.”
Nadal in an interview last week admitted that he is still not in a position to give an official return while adding that the pain is still there but also revealed that he has made progress despite the odds.
“I’m not training without pain. I’m in less pain than I used to be, but I’m still in pain,” he revealed.
“However, this pain allows me to do more and more things eventually. Things would be different if I had zero pain. I could give you a date for my return if I had zero pain because I would have time to prepare myself for that.
“I’m training more now than a month ago but I’m taking it one day at a time. Let’s see if I have the chance to increase the intensity to come back little by little.”