"He's got to be in the top five favourites at Roland Garros" says Andy Roddick on Rafael Nadal but with tournament warm-up caveat

Andy Roddick commented on the likely return of Rafael Nadal at the Barcelona Open and affirmed that he will be among the top five favorites at the French Open. The 14-times Roland Garros champion was practically out for the entire 2023 season, and although a gradual return to competition was expected in 2024, Nadal has only played in one tournament this year.

His appearance was at the Brisbane International in the first week of January, where he secured two victories but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Jordan Thompson. Unfortunately for Nadal, his participation subsequently led to an injury that prevented him from competing in the Australian Open, and he withdrew from the Qatar Open, Indian Wells, and Monte-Carlo Masters.

Nadal has mentioned the possibility of retiring this year and had hoped to participate in some of his favorite tournaments, with the optimism of being in top physical form for the clay swing. However, he has been out of official tournaments for more than three months, and it remains to be seen at what level Nadal returns, as he was spotted practicing in Barcelona for the upcoming Barcelona Open.

Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick discussed on the Tennis Channel podcast the likelihood of Nadal reaching the French Open final compared to the possibility of Andy Murray reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals, as the British player is also recovering from an injury that will take him several months to overcome.

According to the 2003 US Open champion, if Nadal competes in a couple of tournaments before Roland Garros, he will be a strong contender to reach the final: “Yeah, I think we’re talking about health, right? If Rafa is healthy and can sneak two tournaments in, he’s got to be in the top five favorites at Roland Garros still," Roddick said.

"Obviously, you want that goodbye at Roland Garros; it would suck if he [Nadal] can't get that. I got to think, like, if he's practicing but not serving well, I still got to think he's going to throw that out there in Roland Garros," Roddick said.

"I mean, if he can walk out there and at least play even if it's not great, like, I get that Monte Carlo, if I can't play 100%, I'm not playing. I guess I get it in Madrid. I get it in Rome. I don't think that line of thought holds water; he wants to say goodbye at the place that he's won 14 times," he added.