Andy Roddick thinks Rafael Nadal may have done well if he had chosen to compete in the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. To focus entirely on getting ready for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Nadal decided to withdraw from the esteemed grasscourt Major.
In a recent episode of the podcast, Roddick discussed Nadal’s 2024 Wimbledon absence. If the Spaniard had played at SW19 this year, the 2003 US Open champion believes he could have done well. Roddick did, however, acknowledge the 22-time Grand Slam victor’s choice to skip Wimbledon because of the physical toll that changing surfaces causes.
Roddick discussed this and said: “He (Nadal) could have won matches and made a run (at Wimbledon) if he chose to play, but I get it. Switching surfaces sucks for the body. All of a sudden, you go from building up reserves on clay, grinding out matches, your bodywork, and all of a sudden you’re dealing with lower back issues on grass because you’re bending and twisting and that’s not of need to him.”
But in the end, Roddick said he was happy to see the Spaniard compete at the Olympics. He added: “Listen, he made the right decision, but in my mind, I’m going, I have had the thought, I don’t know if I fully believe it, but that might be his best bet to win a Slam or get to a last four right now, even including clay. So, based on what his body’s capable of doing, the movement, speed, gets a little help on the serve, all the adjustments that he has to make, for his body now, are kind of adjustments that he has to make on grass anyway. I’m just happy we’re going to see him again (at the Olympics).”
Rafael Nadal in 2024
Now the world no.258, Rafael played his last match on the 27th of May when he lost to world no.4 Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 in the 1st round of the French Open (draw).
Currently, during this year Rafael has achieved a composed 7-5 match record.
He is also scheduled to play in Bastad (Nordea Open) after Wimbledon. The main draw will start on the 1st of July.
