Mats Wilander has weighed in on the ongoing GOAT (Greatest of All Time) debate, expressing his belief that Rafael Nadal has had a more significant impact on the younger generation compared to his Big-3 counterparts, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The former Swedish tennis player shared his thoughts on Nadal's recent elimination in Brisbane.
Nadal made a comeback to the court in his first tournament after a 12-month hiatus, securing victories against Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler. However, he faced an unexpected exit in the quarterfinals against Jordan Thompson in a marathon match lasting three hours and 24 minutes, where Nadal even squandered a match point.
Hi all, during my last match in Brisbane I had a small problem on a muscle that as you know made me worried. Once I got to Melbourne I have had the chance to make an MRI and I have micro tear on a muscle, not in the same part where I had the injury and that’s good news. Right…
Following the confirmation that Nadal would miss the Australian Open due to an injury sustained during the match with Thompson, 7-times Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander expressed his regret, stating, "It’s extremely sad news. Obviously, it’s the most sad news for himself because I saw the first three matches that he played in Brisbane. He looked extremely good in the first match against Dominic Thiem. He looked even better in the second round against Jason Kubler," said the Swede.
“And then, having three match points in the third round against Jordan Thompson. He looked great. He can miss those match points. We all have done that in our careers. The older you get, maybe the more pressure you put on yourself but I think it’s a little bit of a wake-up call in one way.
“You just realise that it’s not just his ankle and his knee and the big part of his muscle, it’s also the smaller muscles in his body. Either he’s trained so hard over the years, or he tries so hard over the years that he breaks. And it’s so unusual,” Wilander added.
“It is unfair to someone like Rafa Nadal, because he’s got the spirit that very few professional athletes have had over the years, and no-one, I think, gets the people so emotionally involved in his tennis or the sport they’re doing.
“So he’s a player that has had seasons. His season has very rarely lasted the whole year. We’ve gotten used to him coming back and doing the non-human thing, of coming back from injury time and time and time again, and maybe now at 37 years old, maybe this is the last time that he was able to come back.”
“It’s time that we start to celebrate Rafael Nadal, because Rafael Nadal is the main reason why we have the passion and players like Carlos Alcaraz, like a Stefanos Tsitsipas,” stated Wilander
“I mean Rafael Nadal is the one that has affected the younger generation more to me than, Roger Federer, or even Novak Djokovic, because of the way that he has behaved over the years. Always so,” the Swede added. “Such a sportsman, always trying so hard, maybe trying too hard. But I think that’s what we want to see in our younger players and Rafa is the main reason for me.”
