After tennis legend Rafael Nadal shared the bad news of opting out of the Australian Open 2024, fans have been heavily disappointed. He shared in one of his recent posts on social media that he suffered a micro muscle tear at the Brisbane International. Owing this, he has to opt out of the coming tournament that involves 5 sets of matches as he does not feel that he would be able to compete there.

This has caused many to raise concerns about the physical abilities of Nadal, including a top tennis journalist. In one of his recent interviews, he talked about how Nadal does not scare others anymore.

Tennis journalist declares Rafael Nadal is not serious competition anymore

Being physically fit and in form is very important for a tennis player to be able to maintain their game on the court. However, this has not happened that well for Rafael Nadal. Right after making a comeback after so long, in just one tournament, he suffered another injury and had to opt out of the first grand slam of the year.

Regarding the same, tennis journalist Benoit Maylin shared, “Nadal’s strength is notably the physical dimension. If he doesn’t have that, he’s dead, he no longer scares anyone.”

According to him, Rafael Nadal is no longer a threat to anyone competing against him because he is not at the best of his physical abilities right now. And that is very important, especially in grand slams where the matches go around for 5 sets.

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So, if he cannot do that or manage his form during those matches, then other tennis players will never find him to be a terrific competitor if he can be easily defeated. Besides that, Nadal also shared a glimmer of hope for his fans about how if all goes well, he might be back for the rest of the 2024 season.

Nadal leaves fans with a hope of being for the rest of the season

Even though Rafael Nadal penned down a heartbreaking note for his fans on social media about not making it to the Australian Open, he did give them some hope with his next post about how he may be eventually back after he gets better. Rafa shared that his injury is not too severe, so he is going to Spain to see his doctor and hoping for good news.

Once he is back in shape, he may be back and continue playing the rest of the season including the major grand slams and tournaments. So, fans still can hold onto that thought. Also, since this probably might be his last season before retirement, we certainly hope we can see more of him on the court, hopefully in time for Roland Garros.

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