"Rafa mentally is someone very special": Henin believes Nadal will give Roland Garros attempt his best shot

Former player Justine Henin expects Rafael Nadal to give Roland Garros his best shot expecting him to do well and possibly even defend his trophy.

This tennis season has not gone well for Rafael Nadal as it was announced earlier today that he won't be playing at his beloved Barcelona Open. It's not an event that he wants to miss but he's missing it as he still isn't ready to play tennis at the highest level. The last time he played was in Melbourne where he injured his hip leaving him unable to play for months now.

It's not an ideal preparation for Roland Garros but Justine Henin still expects him to do well at the event if he's healthy enough to play:

"His energy to win the Australian Open was huge. He kept playing so well, kept winning and then through Roland Garros - even though he had to go through some difficult things - he made it. The effort he had to put into it was huge. Maybe too much - we don't know for the future. He wanted to win that Grand Slam again and will want [to again] if he can come to Roland Garros this year. But time goes on, time flies and he's also getting older."

Henin continued:

"He won in Madrid already in the past. If he has to choose a tournament it probably wouldn't be Madrid because of the conditions compared to what he likes with the altitude. It looks like he has no choice. Will he be in Madrid? We hope so. Maybe also Rome. We hope Rafa has enough matches to come to Roland Garros in good condition. It's getting harder and harder but we have to remember that Rafa mentally is someone very special. For sure he's giving the best he can to be prepared and ready to be at his best in Paris in a few weeks, but he knows the situation much better than us."