Mouratoglou: Nadal should skip hardcourt events to boost Roland-Garros chances

Rafael Nadal’s comeback to the Tour after a year away may have suffered a setback in Brisbane, but the Spaniard will still have a chance to win Roland-Garros this summer, if he is smart with his schedule.

That’s the feeling of Patrick Mouratoglou, who believes Nadal should prioritise the clay-court events to ensure he is 100 percent fit come Paris in May.

A small muscle tear close to the left psoas that he damaged a year ago when playing at the Australian Open, caused Nadal to pull out of this year’s event but all being well, he should be fit again within a few weeks, and he has consistently said his aim is to be fully firing by the spring.

On his Instagram channel, Mouratoglou said he was surprised to see Nadal in Australia at all, but believes he will still have a chance to do well again in Paris if he gets his schedule right.

“I thought it was a risky move for Rafa to come back after such a long injury and to go straight to hard courts to play a Grand Slam,” Mouratoglou said.

“Considering his age and his situation in regards to injuries, the fact that Roland-Garros is by far his bigger chance to win a Grand Slam this year, I thought going straight to clay would make a lot of sense. I thought his schedule would be to skip the Australian Open, start the season in South America on clay, and stay on that surface until the European season on the same surface.”

Nadal would have to miss Indian Wells and Miami

Traditionally, Nadal has played in Acapulco or Dubai in February before heading to Indian Wells and Miami. In addition, he has always been reluctant to skip sections of the season when he could, feasibly, play. Mouratoglou thinks the 37-year-old needs to think selfishly.

“Now, he got injured again. The good news from him is that a small muscle tear should heal in a few weeks,” he said.

“He has now to reconsider his schedule. Roland Garros is still his 2024 major goal and he still has a chance to show up at the French with a good chance to win it, but I think he should definitely skip hard courts until the clay-court season in Europe.”

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