Boris Becker ‘sincerely hopes’ Rafael Nadal’s final tournament is not French Open 2023

Edited May 12, 2023 at 3:00am GMT

Boris Becker, like most Rafael Nadal fans, is worried about the Spaniard’s chances at the upcoming French Open.

With the defending champion not having played competitive tennis since the Australian Open, when he suffered a hip injury in the second round, Becker is not happy with Nadal’s level of match practice leading up to Roland Garros.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Eurosport, the former world number one insisted that for the Mallorcan to miss out on so many of his favorite tournaments on clay, something “really bad” must have happened.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion was originally scheduled to return to action at the Monte-Carlo Masters at the start of the swing, but eventually pulled out, then pulled out of the Barcelona Open, Madrid Open and most recently the Italian Open respectively.

Becker said:

“All Nadal fans, and I’m one of them, are worried. He happens to be 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 he cancels the clay court tournaments in preparation for Roland-Garros, something really something bad must have happened.”

The German went on to say that it would be nice to see the southpaw at least compete in Paris, adding that he “sincerely hoped” this was not the end of the road for the 36-year-old:

“I really hope he can at least compete in Paris. That would be good news at least. It’s always up to the player to decide what his last tournament will be – and I sincerely hope that for Rafa it won’t be Roland-Garros this year.”

“No one has ever played tennis like Rafael Nadal” – Boris Becker

Boris Becker continued to praise Rafael Nadal, calling him an icon who “significantly” changed the landscape of tennis. Becker declared that no one had ever played the sport like the Spaniard and hailed the 22-time Grand Slam champion as one of the “fairest” players and “greatest fighters” the world has ever seen.

Here’s what he had to say about Nadal’s influence on the sport:

“Rafa is not a sports hero, but an icon. He has changed the game of tennis significantly. No one has ever played tennis like Rafael Nadal – let alone as successful. This also shows in his attitude. He is one of the fairest players in the world, one of the best fighters we have ever met seen.”