Cameron Norrie shares Rafael Nadal French Open doubts as Spaniard gears up for farewell
Cameron Norrie has given his view on Rafael Nadal's upcoming French Open campaign.
British No.1 Cam Norrie has doubted that Rafael Nadal will play his final French Open this year.
The 14-time champion, now 38, has said he expects to retire at the end of the season. And the Spaniard was given a special farewell ceremony after losing at the Madrid Masters - one of only four tournaments the 22-time Grand Slam winner has entered in his latest injury-hit year.
Nadal, now ranked world No.276, will face Rome Masters champion Alex Zverev in a blockbuster first-round clash.
The King of Clay, who was beaten in the second round in the Italian capital by Hubert Hurkacz, has never lost consecutive tour-level matches on clay
Norrie said: “It'll be a good match. I don't know if it's going to be his last one (at Roland Garros), we'll see. It'll be a good one, but for sure I'm watching it. I think everyone's going to be watching that one.”
The big question is whether Nadal, who was forced out of the Australian Open by another hip injury, can find his old inspiration at the event where he has won a ridiculous 97.39% of his matches in 18 appearances since winning on his debut in 2005. He has only lost three matches out of 115 here to two men - Robin Soderling (2009) and Novak Djokovic (2015 and 2021).
Nadal has practised with fellow Grand Slam champions Daniil Medvedev and Stan Wawrinka.
The Russian world No.45 said: “Honestly, he played well. We didn't play five sets. He played well. Better than what I saw on TV from Rome or Madrid. I didn't feel I was bad. We played a set and more, and he beat me.
"It will be interesting for me to see how he plays against Zverev, because once again, Rafa will always be Rafa. He won here 14 times. Until he plays here, well, even if he may not be favourite, he can perfectly win. I don't know. He may have lost three or four times. The match will be interesting.”
And the Swiss star, who faces Andy Murray in his first-round match, said: “I think he was playing really well. Rafa is always Rafa, especially when he has arrived at the French Open. We all know what he achieved here. It's always going to be special for him.
Don't miss...
Alexander Zverev left red-faced as Djokovic and Nadal comments called out [REACTION]
Rafael Nadal gets brutal French Open draw as Djokovic and Murray learn fate [DRAW]
Nadal trailing in Djokovic's wake as he takes step closer to closer to Federer [LATEST]
"I think if he can get injury-free, he's going to play well this year. Is it going to be here or is it going to be the rest of the year in different tournaments? I believe that he was playing really well and hopefully for him he doesn't get more injuries. That will help him to play more matches, more tournaments and get back the confidence and everything."
Nadal leads Zverev 7-3 with their last meeting in the 2022 semi-finals here when the German suffered a season-ending ankle injury in a second-set tiebreak.