“Opponents hurt him in Madrid” Alex Corretja fears an early return could dent French Open chances of Rafael Nadal
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Alex Corretja and Rafael Nadal
21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal could well be on his way to the 2022 Madrid Masters having missed the entire month of Claycourt action in April due to a stress fracture in his rib that he was diagnosed with after the 2022 Indian Wells Masters finals which he played in agonising pain.
The fracture sidelined him for the entire month for 4-6 weeks. Nadal was going to skip the 2022 Miami Masters anyways but the injury forced him to skip the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open, the two events where he is a record champion and was committed to play this season. His return was marked around the Madrid Masters and with recent footage of him returning to training, there is a chance that he could actually make the tournament in Madrid but for Alex Corretja, it looks like a wrong step on the Marllorcan’s part.
“I think the big decision for Rafa will be whether to go to Madrid or not. This is probably the hardest part for Rafa because I believe from what we have heard and what we have seen that he is training. In a normal situation, he could be ready to play in Madrid, but is Madrid the ideal place for Rafa’s return?
“Knowing that it’s at altitude and during the clay season that’s where he usually felt the least comfortable because he has so much power and he’s not in control of the ball as much as he wants, he has opponents who hurt him in Madrid and usually don’t at sea level. So, is he going to be ready for Madrid? Maybe he’s ready, but I’m not sure it’s the right choice to come back to Madrid,” said Corretja speaking on Eurosport.
Rafael Nadal remains the record winner of the Madrid Masters
Despite Corretja breaking down the parts where Nadal suffers in Madrid as he has failed to reach the finals since winning the 2017 Madrid Masters, Nadal can boast of being the record 5-time champion of the ATP-1000 tournament with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the second place with 3 titles each.
“If he is healthy he will probably go but I think he will have to think about what is best for him in order to be perfect for Roland Garros because although it would be great if he could be in Madrid and it would be amazing if he could be in Roma, he can’t hide that his main goal is to be in top form for Paris,” added Corretja further.
Nadal is yet to make an official announcement about whether he will withdraw from the Madrid Masters or play in the tournament and a decision is likely to come at the last moment as he would like to be completely sure of his participation chances in order to remain fit for the season going ahead.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)