"Rafael Nadal will not go to Roland Garros to lose in the second round... His dream ending would be to win" - Spaniard's uncle Toni
Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni believes his nephew will participate in the 2024 French Open to win the tournament and not bow out in the early rounds. A 37-year-old Nadal is preparing to participate in his 19th French Open with many doubtful about him making a deep run.
Nadal has been playing continuously this clay court season. He played in Barcelona and followed it up with appearances in Madrid and Italy. Before each tournament, there was a doubt if the Spaniard, who had been largely inflicted with injuries in the latter half of his career, would play.
After bowing out of Madrid in the Round of 16 against Jiri Lehecka, the Spaniard received a warm farewell. His most recent exploits were in Italy, where he won the first-round match against Zizou Bergs but lost against Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.
Up next is the French Open. Nadal, a record 14-time winner of the Grand Slam, hopes to make it to Paris for the tournament. His uncle Toni believes the 22-time Grand Slam winner is confident and will not play the French Open to lose in the second round. In an interview with ESPN, Toni said,
"He is not going to drag himself down, he remains confident because of his mentality and way of being. He will not go to Roland Garros to lose in the second round, only if he believes he can win the tournament."
"His dream ending would be to win Roland Garros and retire, but I think if he does he will want to continue. He won't retire," he added.
"I don’t want to feel helpless" - Rafael Nadal wants to be competitive in order to participate in the French Open
Rafael Nadal has talked about his French Open participation this year several times. Soon after his Italian Open exit, he expressed a desire to play in Paris by training himself to be better than what he was in the earlier tournaments.
Moreover, in an interview with France TV Sport, the Spaniard claimed he was helpless in Barcelona and Madrid and did not want that to happen again.
"I don’t want to feel helpless like I did in Barcelona or Madrid. If there’s a 0.01% chance (that I can be competitive in Roland Garros), then I sure want to try to play; if not, then I prefer to keep all of the happy memories," he told France TV Sport (translated from Spanish).
Recent reports emerging from Spain are positive about Nadal's participation in Paris. He is expected to head to France next week.