"Anything before that is a bonus": Jimmy Connors forsees Rafael Nadal's targets pointing towards Roland Garros in final year

Saturday, 06 January 2024 at 23:30

Jimmy Connors commented on Rafael Nadal's recent defeat at the 2024 Brisbane International, his first tournament in 12 months. The Spaniard showed good performance in his early matches, and only details separated him from victory against Jordan Thompson. Nadal had three match points in his favor but couldn't convert any.

Eventually, the Australian secured the win 7-5, 6-7(6), 3-6 after more than three hours of play. Former world No. 1 Jimmy Connors downplayed Nadal's loss, considering that Nadal's main focus will be on Roland Garros.

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Rafa Nadal smiles & waves goodbye to the crowd in Brisbane. When he entered this court the other day to embark on his comeback, he entered as a champion. Win or lose, he leaves this court as a champion. An honor to watch him once again. 🥹❤️

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Rafael Nadal's Focus

The 22-times Grand Slam champion received medical attention during the match, although, as he said, it would be a minor bother and is unrelated to his previous injury. With just a week left for the start of the Australian Open, many fans are hoping to see Nadal at his best for the first Grand Slam of the year, although Connors believes that the top priority is the French Open:

"I think, you know, Australia if he has success there success and throughout Monte Carlo, and the clay, or Miami or whatever, I think his goal is the French Open and it if he wins another time, what would that be 47 times? Certainly a record that will never be broken," Connors added.

"And it is gonna be interesting to see how these young guys, you know, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas and all those guys tend to look at him when he comes in," former world No. 1 said.

Mental Block of His Opponents

Connors remarked that several players experience mental blocks when facing competitors like Rafael Nadal, as many consider it impossible to defeat him. The American believes that this sentiment persists despite Nadal's extended absence:

"Yeah, you know and I look back because a lot of times you walk out there and you've won the match before you people walked on the court," Jimmy Connors said (at 48.30). "Yeah. And I think Rafael Nadal might still have that reputation.""I think he's still has that, 'oh my god, he's back, oh, watch out, he's been out for a year you know you know sometimes you get a little twitchy'," he added (at 48.40).

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There will never be another Rafael Nadal.

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Cristhián Ávila is a tennis journalist based in Santiago, Chile, and has been part of the TennisUpToDate team since early 2023. He covers the ATP and WTA Tours as well as all four Grand Slams, producing breaking news, match reports, analysis, and regular liveblogs from major tournaments.

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