“He goes out when he wants to,” John McEnroe backs Rafael Nadal to retire on his own terms
John McEnroe opens up on Rafael Nadal's retirement debate. He gave his candid views on this topic.
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John McEnroe and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal‘s loss against Mackenzie McDonald and his exit from the second-round of the Australian Open 2023 because of a hip injury has worried everybody. His team confirmed that the injury must rule him out of action for at least 6-8 weeks. But since the news has arrived, speculations about his retirement has also raised alarm.
Everybody has their own opinions on his retirement. Media, tennis commentators and pundits are trying to understand the gravity of the situation. Even tennis legends are also getting into this debate.
Rennae Stubbs believes that Rafael Nadal has played the last match of his career. Boris Becker has great respect for the 22-time Grand Slam champion, but he thinks that the Spaniard may find it very difficult this time to recover from the injury that he sustained at the Australian Open 2023.
“An injury like that is hard, and at this age, it takes even longer to get back into shape. I hope and pray that he will get well soon and that we will see him looking fresh again in Paris at the latest, but I think his days are numbered,” he said in an exclusive interview with EuroSport.
John McEnroe seems to be agreeing with the German tennis legend. However, he also believe that the decision to quit and when must be taken by the 36-year-old.
“My hope is he goes out when he wants to go out, not when we want him to go out. You are talking about a GOAT – greatest of all time – type of athlete. You saw from Murray that he doesn’t want to go out on injury-like terms, you know, he wants to go out on his terms when he’s healthy and competing and it’s just like, ‘I can look in the mirror and know I have done everything I could and that’s enough’.” he told in a recent interview with the same broadcaster.
“Rafa, from what I’ve heard, wants to keep playing. You know, he loves the competition, he loves the process, and he loves the sport and we love him for that. But if the body doesn’t hold up and he feels like he can’t get to that type of level health-wise that he needs to, to win majors, then I think he’ll quit,” he continued.
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When can Rafael Nadal return to the court?
Rafael Nadal‘s fans want him to return to the court as soon as possible. He wants him to win the Grand Slam tournaments and ATP titles. They also want him to climb the leaderboard and become World No.1. But can he play?
John McEnroe thinks that the Spaniard would want to play for some years if his body could support him. However, he also thinks that his retirement is imminent.
“The question is, when is that? So it is as early as the French, it’s as late as playing two or three more years. It really depends on how the body holds up, and then obviously he’s used to doing so well that if the results aren’t there for a consistent period of time, I would expect that he would stop playing then,” he continued.
The three-time Wimbledon champion also suspects that he may choose against playing in the Indian Wells Open 2023.
“I would suspect that he will wait because, if you recall last year when he went to Indian Wells, he got hurt there and then he missed the first part of the clay-court season. So I think he would prefer to sort of start with the clay-court season,” he elaborated on this possibility giving his reasons.
“Obviously, Indian Wells would love to have him, as would anyone, any tournament would. But at this age and after all he’s been through with his body, and now with this latest setback, it would surprise me if he played there,” he added further.
Rafael Nadal is also the defending champion of the French Open. It is possible that he may choose to retire after winning the title for the 15th time in his career. But whenever, he may decide to hang up his boots, it is sure to be one of the most emotional nights of tennis sport. It is possible that similar scenes as Roger Federer‘s farewell night may be witnessed.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)