Former world No. 1 Martina Navratilova believes a Rafael Nadal in perfect health and well prepared to win Roland Garros this year. Nadal, a 13-time record champion at Roland Garros, was hampered by a foot problem after appearing at the French Open last year.
Previously, he was beaten in the semifinals by world No.1 Novak Djokovic. Nadal then ended his 2021 season in August in order to focus on his physical recovery as well as the foot.
“If Rafael Nadal is healthy in 2022 and his foot returns to normal, I still think he will win Roland Garros,” Navratilova said on Tennis Channel, as reported by Sportskeeda.
“But I don’t think he can win anything else. The other guys are getting too good. I just hope he’s healthy.” In a recent interview, David Ferrer said Nadal could even win this year’s Australian Open.
“At the moment Djokovic is playing well and he’s in good health, but I also think Rafael Nadal has a chance to win the Australian Open for sure,” Ferrer commented to Sky Sports. .
Rafael Nadal tries to have a solid preparation
The vaccinated Nadal and members of his team tested positive for covid-19 last month, and the Mallorcan said he had had a rough few days.
“I have been going through very difficult times for the past four or five days,” Nadal said. “It was hard, and after that I felt so tired and had a fever.
I must have stayed in bed for a few days without having the chance to move a lot, because I was very sick with a fever and one of the harshest flu symptoms of my life.
Then when my PCR was negative I decided to come here ASAP because in my opinion it is the best way to try to recover mentally and physically, but also to be ready and to adapt. on terms here in Australia “
After recovering from covid-19, Nadal kicked off his season at this week’s Melbourne Summer Set, an ATP 250 tournament where he ended up winning the trophy.
