Marion Bartoli believes Rafael Nadal’s one final goal is to win one last French Open. Nadal, 36, had a devastating and heartbreaking end to his Australian Open campaign as a hip injury left him nowhere near his best during a second-round loss to Mackenzie McDonald.
Some fear that Nadal – who has been struggling a lot with injuries in the last few years – is at his breaking point. “I think he has set himself a goal, that of going to win one last RolandâGarros. The Roland-Garros he won last year in 2022, no one thought he was going to win it.
We were told that he could barely walk and that his foot was catastrophic. Even if it will be difficult, on this surface he has the recipe and the magic formula to be ready. You don’t win Roland-Garros fourteen times without knowing how to be ready.
I think he will set this last deadline. And if he really sees that it’s not working, he can actually start thinking about the rest – which tournament he’s going to want to play last,” Bartoli said on the Super Moscato Show, as revealed on We Love Tennis France.
Bartoli believes Nadal’s final goal is to win this year’s French Open
In his post-match press conference, Nadal looked visibly dejected and he admitted to feeling “mentally devastated.” However, Nadal confirmed that he definitely plans to address the injury and give tennis another try.
“It’s a very simple thing: I like what I do. I like playing tennis. I know it’s not forever. I like to feel myself competitive. I like to fight for the things that I have been fighting for almost half of my life or even more.
And that’s it,” Nadal said, per the ATP website. Nadal will now take some time to first determine the full extent of his hip injury. Once that is clear, Nadal will be able to have a clearer picture of what to do in the upcoming period.
