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Patrick Mouratoglou has claimed that Rafael Nadal will stop his tennis comeback if he feels that he can\u2019t win a Grand Slam title. The Spaniard is set to return to competition in 2024 after being sidelined since January and underground surgery in June. Nadal has remained realistic and claimed that he wasn\u2019t expecting to win the Australian Open or Roland Garros but Mouratoglou thinks his tennis return could be cancelled if he isn\u2019t competitive enough to lift trophies.<\/p>\n
Nadal has been out of action for most of the year, picking up a left psoas injury during his second-round defeat at the Australian Open. The former world No 1 then attempted to mount a comeback during the clay season but conceded that his body wasn\u2019t responding to treatment and instead announced that he\u2019d be back in 2024 for what would likely be the final season of his career.<\/p>\n
The 37-year-old then underwent arthroscopic hip surgery in early June and recently gave his first real updates, claiming that he didn\u2019t have any expectations of winning Majors upon his return. But top tennis coach Mouratoglou disagreed with Nadal\u2019s statements and claimed that the 22-time Grand Slam champion could stop his comeback altogether if he wasn\u2019t able to return to the top of tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill he be ready to win the Australian Open? Probably he\u2019s going to be short. He wants to see if he\u2019s able to win a Grand Slam still or if he\u2019s far,\u201d the former coach of Serena Williams said on Instagram. \u201cIf he\u2019s far from the feeling that he can win a Grand Slam, he will probably stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive tennis news<\/strong><\/p>\n Just in <\/strong> Alcaraz faces baptism by fire in China Open debut as top seed given brutal run[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n Mouratoglou – who has also previously worked with the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Simona Halep – backed Nadal to keep playing so long as he believed he could still win the biggest titles. He added: \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s gonna play just to be No 20 in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if he feels he can still [win], I think he will continue. Again, unless he has an injury that we ignore.\u201d The Frenchman also made another big claim when it came to Nadal\u2019s ability to lift trophies, naming him as one of the favourites at Roland Garros so long as he was fit and healthy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to Rafa, I understand he doesn\u2019t wanna feel that pressure and he wants people to think that he\u2019s coming next year to say goodbye. But that\u2019s not the type of guy [he is]. He\u2019s going to play fully,\u201d Mouratoglou claimed. \u201cHe will have enough time to practise. Historically, he\u2019s a player that needs to play a lot.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> \u201cThe question mark is, how much injury free will he be in 2024? If he doesn\u2019t have pain and he\u2019s free to play next year, there is no reason to think that he will not be dangerous or the favourite for Roland Garros.\u201d<\/p>\n The Spaniard is a 14-time champion at the French Open and has lost just three matches at the tournament in his career – to Robin Soderling in 2009 and to Novak Djokovic in 2015 and 2021. But Nadal shared a different view to Mouratoglou when he discussed his comeback last week.<\/p>\n While he wanted to feel competitive on the match court, the 37-year-old said his run wouldn\u2019t depend on whether he won Grand Slams – something he wasn\u2019t expecting anyway. \u201cYes, I want to play again and I\u2019d like to become competitive again, but the goal is not to come back and win the French Open or the Australian Open, don\u2019t get me wrong,\u201d he told Movistar.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/590x\/secondary\/4978721.jpg?r=1695721953423\")
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