"When you put Rafa Nadal and Roland Garros in the same sentence": Rafael Nadal still favourite for French Open in comeback says Tim Henman

Former Britain’s number one Tim Henman believes that Spain’s legendary tennis star Rafael Nadal will be the favourite for the French Open 2024.

The 37-year-old is currently spending time on the sidelines as he continues to recover from a knee injury sustained earlier this year. It was because of this reason he ended up missing three out of four Grand Slams.

Henman was recently quoted in a report where he stated that despite the long absence from professional tennis, Nadal will once again start the French Open as a favourite, largely because of his past performances in the competition where he lifted the title for a record 14 times.

“I think it is unlikely [he will win the Australian Open],” he said. “I think also add to the fact that Rafa’s great on hard courts. He’s just at a ridiculously different level on clay courts. So I think the hard courts is probably a little bit of a stepping stone.

“He’s got to get out there, he’s got to get in the tournament environments, he’s got to be competing in longer matches, dealing with adversity and all the different elements that he hasn’t done for a long, long time. And that’s not easy to come back into tournament play like that.

“However, if he can stay injury free and play tournaments at the beginning of the year, to a certain extent, I feel like his comeback really starts once he gets on the clay courts and we will have had an opportunity to see where he’s at, how is his fitness, how is his movement, how is his body, how does he recover after matches?

“I think then when we get to [see him] play, then we can say if there is a chance of Rafa adding to his Grand Slam tally. It’d be amazing if he won any tournament on the tour because it’s not easy to do.

“But again, Rafa’s not there to come back and make quarters and semis in a couple of events. He wants to win the biggest titles. And so, I think the early part of next year will tell us a lot as to whether Rafa is going to be a contender.”