As a tennis fan, I want him to play at least one more tournament before he retires – Novak Djokovic on Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic wants his arch-rival Rafael Nadal to play at least one more tournament before he calls it a day. Nadal has been struggling with injuries in the last 16 months and recently pulled out of the Monte Carlo Masters, which he has won on 11 occasions.

Nadal, known as the King of Clay, has a potent record at Roland Garros with 14 titles and there is no doubt he would want to play a couple of tournaments before the French Open. The veteran Spaniard played in the Brisbane Open at the start of the year before he had to opt out of the Australian Open due to a muscle tear.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion was all set to return to the tour at Indian Wells but could not take part in the tournament as he was not fully fit.

When speaking to the media ahead of the tournament, Djokovic admitted that he is hoping Nadal can return to the tour, “As a tennis fan I want him to play at least one more tournament before he retires. He was saying that this might be his last season, but he just played one tournament in Brisbane but hasn’t played since.”

The 24-time major winner continued, “We traveled together to America. I saw him at Indian Wells, he was trying his best to play. It’s his favorite surface. We all know what he’s done on clay in his career, particularly Roland-Garros. That’s his goal, we all know that, he’s been saying it.

“For the sake of all tennis and Roland-Garros in particular, we hope that he can play there. It would be great to have another great encounter.”

Nadal will hope that he recovers in time and play in the upcoming Barcelona Open, which he has won a dozen times.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have shared an epic rivalry on the court. Djokovic has a 30-29 record against Nadal and the tennis fans will hope that they see the duel between these two veterans.

Nadal had earlier confirmed that 2024 will be his swansong season on the tour.