When it comes to entrusting their lives to Rafael Nadal, there seems to be one question on which a lot of tennis players apparently agree.
This 2024 is proving to be a very challenging year for Rafael Nadal. Since Brisbane, he hasn’t been seen competing again, and for now, he is dedicating himself to training on clay in preparation for Monte Carlo, the next goal for returning to the courts, although there’s no specific date set yet.
Even now, in the final stage of his sports career, Nadal continues to be admired by the rest of the competitors, who see in him a mirror to look into for continuous growth and to someday come close to what the Spaniard was at his peak.
In fact, his greatness has reached such a point that, following an ATP interview that went viral on social media, there was unanimity in the answers when everyone agreed on Rafa Nadal in response to the following question: “Which player would you trust to win a set that could save your life?”
Tennis players like Dominic Thiem (top-91), Grigor Dimitrov (top-9), Álex de Miñaur (top-11), Auger-Aliassime (top-36), Borna Coric (top-32), and even Novak Djokovic (top-1) concurred that they would entrust their lives to Nadal to play the set, though some specified their choice would depend on it being on clay, the Mallorcan’s favored stage.
Since June 2022, we haven’t seen Rafa smile on that ground when he lifted the Roland Garros trophy, 667 days ago, as a result of a spiral of injuries he has yet to overcome.
It remains uncertain whether the winner of 22 Grand Slams will reappear in Monaco to resume his career after having played only three matches this season, but the desire persists, and Rafa can return at any moment, with everyone hoping it will be very soon.