Jimmy Connors opined on his podcast Advantage Connors that
Rafael Nadal had made the right decision in terms of withdrawing from the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Nadal has been dealing with a back injury, abdominal problems and is not physically ready to return to action much to the dismay of tennis fans.
He even confirmed at the Copa Del Rey that he is unlikely to be ready for Madrid or Barcelona either leaving Rome and Roland Garros only as potentials and leaving the latter in real doubt. What started out as a season with much hope has turned into a bit of a disaster, but Connors understands why he would urge caution.
"Playing hurt is no fun, especially as you get older. If you're not careful, you can even do more damage. Rafa's been around long enough, he knows himself better than anybody and nobody should make that decision but him," he said in a recent episode of the Advantage Connors podcast.
"There's nothing worse than playing hurt because that takes away everything. It takes away your movement, it takes away the way you hit your shots and it takes away your attitude toward the way you wanna play. You're always hedging, youโre not fully confident in your health and your movement."
"I know how difficult it is to let go. No matter what, you try to do anything to stay around and do what you've done at the top of the game for so long and been so successful and you know, sometimes, itโs tough to let go."
"With the success he has... there's no looking back and saying 'I wish I would've done something'. I'm sure he's done everything he's ever gotten in the game to do and you know, taking care of your health I guess comes down to making that decision."