‘Rafael Nadal won’t retire in 2024 if he comes back and wins’

Former world No 10 Juan Monaco does not think Rafael Nadal will retire in 2024 if he wins when he returns to the tour.

The Argentine, who retired in 2017, declared that the great Spaniard will not come back if he does not intend to have more success.

While announcing he would miss this year’s French Open, Nadal also revealed the 2024 season would likely be his final year on tour.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion had a successful surgery on his hip earlier this month. The 37-year-old has not competed since losing to Mackenzie MacDonald in the second round of the Australian Open in January due to the injury.

The Spaniard won seven of his eight career meetings with Monaco between 2005 and 2016.

Monaco expressed his desire for Nadal to return to tennis, but more importantly to see his friend healthy again.

“It is my wish as a friend. For the good of tennis and for the good of him, who is putting all the effort to return. I want him to come back, yes, but I also have another wish as a friend, that Rafa can live in peace, without so much pressure to come back with so much pain,” Monaco told Clay.

“He made a big effort to try to come back after Australia, and every time he strained his leg it bothered him a lot. Until he had to take the decision to have surgery.

“And it is a complicated operation, because he is doing it to be able to walk calmly tomorrow. Whether he can play tennis again will depend on how much effort he wants to put in. I know how much pain he is in, I know that in the last five years he has been living with a lot of pain.”

The nine-time ATP titlist also claimed he does not think Nadal will stick to his plan to bow out next year if he makes a strong return to action.

“I think if he decides to return, to train hard to return to the tour is to win. If he doesn’t, he won’t come back. [If he does win], I don’t think so!,” continued the Argentine.

“I don’t think so, I honestly don’t think [he’ll say goodbye]. He’s going to set the limit for himself. I know him a lot, and I think that if he prepares to come back, he prepares to win, he doesn’t prepare to make the quarter-finals.

“He has a very high standard. I think he has not played Roland Garros [this year] because he has seen in training that he was not ready to win Roland Garros, although he could have played it. If he prepares to come back, he comes back to win, not to see what happens.”

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