Boris Becker ‘worried’ about Rafael Nadal as fears grow over French Open hopes

Boris Becker has revealed that he is not entirely convinced that Rafael Nadal will be able to defend his French Open title later this year as the Spaniard continues his battle to be fit in time for the start of the tournament. Nadal has not returned to the court since suffering a long-term hip injury at the Australian Open in January and recently pulled out of this week’s Rome Masters in order to focus on his recovery.

Nadal would normally be one of the favourites to win the top honours at Roland Garros as a result of his unmatched expertise on clay, although his current predicament suggests that it will be difficult for him even if he manages to return to full fitness ahead of the tournament. Becker has insisted that the last thing Nadal would have wanted to do was to withdraw from the Rome Masters unless something ‘really bad’ came up, sparking fears over his hopes of making it to the French Open later this month.

“All Nadal fans, and I’m one of them, are worried,” Becker told Eurosport. “It happens that he is injured. After his injury in Melbourne, it was said that he would be fit again for the clay-court season. That was not the case.

“If Nadal cancels the clay-court tournaments in preparation for Roland Garros, something really bad must have happened. I really hope he can at least compete in Paris. That would at least be good news.”

JUST IN: Rome Masters umpire that left Andy Murray raging causes another angry row

Nadal has won a record-breaking 14 titles at Roland Garros and will be hoping to compete for another one this year as he aims to defend the crown he won in 2022, with many people having suggested that he could decide to retire from professional tennis after one last hurrah at the French Open. Corrado Barazzutti recently suggested that Nadal could be tempted to bring the curtain down on his glittering career in Paris this summer, although Becker is hoping for the Spaniard to keep gracing the tour with his presence for as long as possible.

“If Paris really is his last [tournament], that would be negative news about Rafael,” added the 55-year-old. “Let’s hope that Corrado Barazzutti is not right in this case. A player always has to decide for himself which is his last tournament and I sincerely hope that for Rafa it won’t be the Roland Garros tournament this year.”

Becker went on to insist that he retains a degree of confidence in Nadal in spite of his injury problems ahead of the French Open, with the German legend branding him one of the ‘greatest fighters’ the sport has ever seen.

“Rafa is not a sports hero, but an icon,” said Becker. “He has changed the sport of tennis significantly. No one has ever played tennis like Rafael Nadal, let alone been so successful. This is also evident in his attitude. He is one of the fairest players in the world, one of the greatest fighters we have ever seen, and the fact that he won Wimbledon twice as the ‘King of Clay’ and was also successful in the other Grand Slam tournaments shows his unique performance over almost two decades.

“I can still remember the first time he won in Paris with his very exhausting style of play. People said that this way of playing was much too strenuous, that he would never make it in the long run. Yes, we all were wrong. He proved us completely different. He is an absolute icon of the sport.”

Follow our new Express Sport page on Instagram here.