Rafael Nadal’s uncle makes striking retirement plan revelation as Novak Djokovic eyes Grand Slam history at Wimbledon

One of the major absentee from the last two Grand Slams has been Rafael Nadal. Earlier in May, even before the Roland Garros had gotten underway, Nadal had held an unlikely press conference at his academy in Spain where he did not withdraw himself from French Open, the tournament he won 14 times, but also for the rest of the season owing to his continued struggle with the hip injury. He later underwent a successful surgery with an eye on a return next year, which could possibly be his final professional year on tour as revealed by the Spaniard in that same presser.

In the absence of Nadal, it was Novak Djokovic who made the most of it to win his third Slam in Paris and subsequently went past the 37-year-old to script Grand Slam record in men’s singles in Open Era. Djokovic followed his sublime form at his favourite venue once again to reach the semifinal, after beating Andrey Rublev in a four-setter on Centre Court on Tuesday, leaving him only two victories from an Open Era record overall. A title win will not just leave Djokovic with the most Wimbledon titles (8) ever, tying Roger Federer, but also helped him become the first ever player in Open Era, male or female, to reach to 24th Major.

With Djokovic eyeing a Grand Slam glory on his beloved Centre Court, Rafa’s uncle, Toni, cast a doubt on Nadal’s retirement plan hinting that his nephew might continue playing if he returns next year. “Rafael is already 37 years old, the years weigh heavily,” he told Clay.

“What I know, because I talked to him, is that Rafael wants to come back, he wants to recover well. And if he recovers well I think he will want to continue. Then we’ll see because he has to get the results, which won’t be easy, because when you lose the ranking it’s more difficult because you have to compete with the best faster. Then you have to have more good days and you have to play hard matches more times. Let’s see.”

Djokovic extends record at Wimbledon

With a win over Rublev, Djokovic has now extended his record to 44 on Centre Court, having last lost in the arena in 2013. He also remains unbeaten at Wimbledon since 2017, the year he had withdrawn from the tournament with an injury.

He is now into his 46th Grand Slam semi-final, equalling the men’s singles record held by Roger Federer, 12 of which have come at Wimbledon.