"His start to the season reminds me a little bit of when Roger Federer came back in 2017" - Tommy Haas on Rafael Nadal
Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas recently compared Rafael Nadal's comeback to Roger Federer's return to action in 2017. The German feels Nadal's incredible 15-0 start to the season is reminiscent of the sensational form Federer showed at the start of 2017.
Nadal began his 2022 campaign in spectacular fashion, scripting 15 wins on the trot. The Spaniard lifted the Melbourne Summer Set, the Australian Open, and the Mexican Open titles back-to-back.
The 21-time Major champion's comeback from a serious foot injury in 2021 has made his feat all the sweeter. Interestingly, his good friend Roger Federer enjoyed similar success when he returned from a knee injury in 2017.
A 35-year-old Federer stunned the world by winning the Australian Open seeded 17th when very few gave him a chance. He followed it up with title victories in Indian Wells, Miami, Halle, Wimbledon, Shanghai, and Basel to cap off a phenomenal year.
Tommy Haas drew parallels between the Spaniard and the Swiss in a recent interview with Tennis Channel. He said that he received "insights" about Nadal's season from the great Mallorcan himself over dinner.
"Yeah, it's truly, truly incredible," Tommy Haas said. "I had the chance to actually have dinner with him the other night so I got a little bit more of the insights about his start to the season. Kind of reminds me a little bit of you know, when Roger was injured for about six, seven months and he came back in 2017 and sort of you know, had a phenomenal start to the season when he won Australia, came here and to Miami to win that and then on to win Wimbledon."
"To win it there again, I think was one of his greatest achievements" - Tommy Haas on Rafael Nadal's 2022 Australian Open triumph
During the conversation, Haas highlighted the uncertainty associated with Nadal ahead of the season. Not only did the southpaw suffer a potentially career-ending injury, but he also contracted COVID-19 last December.
The former World No. 2 believes winning the 2022 Australian Open is one of the Spaniard's greatest achievements, especially since he has lost numerous finals in Melbourne over the years.
"I kind of have the same sense that when you are at this stage in your career after injury, not really knowing what it's going to be like, you're so happy, excited to be back and then winning the Australian Open again, getting to 21 after having so many you know, finals there as well that sort of didn't go his way right - against Djoker, which at one time he was up 4-2 in the fifth set, against Roger 3-1 up in the fifth set, against Stan Wawrinka, who he has never lost to and he was injured in that final, so I feel like he had so many setbacks there," Haas said.
"To then win it there again, I think was one of his, you know, greatest achievements," he continued. "And now he's leading. So we'll see how it goes. And in for many reasons, I think he's also going to be the man to beat here. So we'll see what what's going to happen."