In the fashion which Rafael Nadal withdrew from the BNB Paribas Open after making a comeback fanned the flames of his retirement speculations even further. It happens way too often that great athletes are troubled by resurfacing injuries in the twilight of their careers. And the former World No.1 is facing that trouble more than ever.

Another legend who has faced his fair share of injury woes is Tiger Woods. Parallels between the two owing to their legendary status and more importantly, their series of injuries, have been drawn again.

Are Tiger Woods and Rafael Nadal on the same injury path?

In a recent episode of their Podcast Advantage Connors, tennis legends Jimmy Connors & Brett Connors talk about Nadal and Woods’ similar injury history. Expressing his concern about Rafa’s fitness Jimmy says, “He’s come to a point in his career, where his health is something worth looking at every week.”

Comparing him to Woods, he explains, “Compare him to Tiger a little bit. You know, Tiger, enters the tournament, and tries to go out and play and then gets sick the next day. You enter and you pull out and, and I am saying from experience that, you know, when you get older things don’t come as easy to you. I mean, everybody knows that and so you got to work harder and you got to train harder, and you go out and you think you can play your normal game.”

Both Nadal and Woods have had resurfacing injuries, mainly to their lower extremities. They also ran through a series of comebacks and withdrawals. Parallels between these two legends have been drawn before too but perhaps it was hard not to do that since both withdrew from tournaments after similarly making their much-awaited comebacks this year.

Read More: ‘Incredible Performance’: Tiger Woods, Who Is the ‘Idol’ of Rafael Nadal, Was Once Left in Awe of Him After the Tennis Legend’s Dominant Performance

These glaring similarities have probably not gone unnoticed by the 48-year-old golf legend, as he had earlier urged the fans to cherish the Spaniard in his twilight years.

Tiger Woods On Rafael Nadal – ‘I don’t want to see him go’

Talking to Europsorts last year ahead of Nadal’s comeback, Woods was found urging the fans to enjoy the Spaniard while they still can, “We should all enjoy watching him compete and watching him play and what he’s meant to the game, what he’s meant to all of us, just to see the passion of how he plays and why he plays.”

Woods can be called a fan of the sport as he expressed his dejection with Nadal being close to his retirement, “I don’t want to see him go. I never wanted to see Fed [Roger Federer] go, but that’s what happened.”

When asked about his retirement much like the Spaniard, the American displayed zest and passion, saying that he’ll walk away only when he can’t win. Sending out a strong message he said, “When that day comes, I’ll walk – well, now I can walk. I won’t say run away, but I’m going to walk away.”

With a whopping 5o years of entertaining the fans between them, seeing them bowing out of their respective sports will certainly feel like a loss to their fans.