“I never thought we’d see Rafa in Bastad again,” Andy Roddick reacts to Rafael Nadal’s decision to play ATP 250 Nordea Open before going to Paris Olympics

Roddick pointed out how even a great of the game at some point cannot play the Olympics without some practice.

“I never thought we’d see Rafa in Bastad again,” Andy Roddick reacts to Rafael Nadal’s decision to play ATP 250 Nordea Open before going to Paris Olympics

Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal (Images via Imago)

Rafael Nadal won’t be playing this year’s Wimbledon Championships because he wants to focus all his attention on the Paris Olympics. The tennis matches start on July 27 on the Roland Garros courts, where no player has won more than Nadal. By missing Wimbledon, he will be participating in the Nordea Open to prepare for the Olympics, which former American player Andy Roddick admitted he never thought of. 

Nadal is not at his usual best, not even on clay post comeback from injury, for he lost his Roland Garros first-round match to finalist Alexander Zverev in straight sets, registering his only fourth defeat since his first match in Paris. The 38-year-old doesn’t want to ruin his rhythm by switching to grass and back to clay again by participating at Wimbledon, given that his body is not in the best of shapes nor is he in good form. And so Roddick pointed out how even a great of the game at some point cannot play the Olympics without some practice.

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No matter how great you are, it's tough to just waltz into the Olympics and play that level of tennis with, you know, a two-month gap in between. This makes sense as far as tennis [is concerned], and for the life of me, I never thought we'd see Rafa in Bastad again, but great. Tennis is tennis, that is awesome. 
Andy Roddick said on Tennis Channel 

Nadal will team up with this year’s Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz for doubles matches at the Olympics. Alcaraz defeated Zverev in the final in five sets to win his third Grand Slam title. 

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Eugenie Bouchard feels the transition from grass to clay would have been tricky for Rafael Nadal 

Former Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard feels that had Rafael Nadal played at Wimbledon, it would have been difficult for him to switch to clay again. Bouchard works as an analyst for Tennis Channel, and she agreed with Andy Roddick that it would help Nadal if he plays the ATP 250 event in Bastad before arriving in Paris again.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal (Image via Imago) 
I do think that the transition after Wimbledon after the grass will be tricky for his body, but he loves the clay. So I feel like this transition can actually be smooth for him. 
Eugenie Bouchard said 

Apart from Nadal, high-profile players like World No.1 Jannik Sinner, three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud, and defending champion Andrey Rublev will also play in the Nordea Open. The tournament starts on July 8 while the final is on July 21.

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