Rafael Nadal could possibly be poised to do Roger Federer a large favour if he follows within the footsteps of the Swiss icon when the time involves convey an finish to his glittering tennis profession. Nadal, who lately withdrew from the upcoming French Open because of a long-term hip harm, is nearing the tip of his spell as one of many sport's main gamers and appears set to announce his retirement earlier than the tip of 2024.

The Spaniard has struggled with quite a lot of harm issues over the previous few years and can miss the French Open, Wimbledon and presumably the US Open earlier than ultimately making his long-awaited return to the court docket. He lately confirmed that he can be taking a four-month break with a purpose to enable his physique to get better and hinted that he'll solely have the ability to play for yet one more yr earlier than ultimately deciding to step again from the sport as Federer did final winter.

"Too many days I have been stopping with too much pain," Nadal advised reporters at a press convention. "I don’t know when I will come back to the practice court, maybe two months, three, four. I am following my personal feelings for my body and personal happiness. My goal is to try to enjoy next year, which will probably be my last."

It appears as if Nadal might have the proper alternative to say goodbye to the game of tennis at subsequent yr's Laver Cup, which was chosen by Federer as his ultimate event as an expert in direction of the tip of final yr. Such a transfer from Nadal would function a serious increase for his long-time rival, who part-owns the Laver Cup and would certainly need nothing greater than for the Manacor native to grace the competitors for one final time.

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The way forward for the Laver Cup seems to be unsure following Federer's retirement when it comes to recruiting high-profile gamers, with the Swiss legend's absence having the potential to cease the likes of Nick Kyrgios from desirous to compete on the event. Nadal can be conserving the highlight on the occasion by selecting to play in it for the ultimate time subsequent yr, which might be gratefully obtained by Federer after his personal elaborate send-off final time round.

It stays to be seen how the following two years will find yourself taking part in out for Nadal, who will likely be desperately hoping to avoid any additional harm issues upon his restoration from the hip situation that curtailed his Australian Open marketing campaign again in January. He was lately tipped to bow out with a flourish by two-time Masters champion Alex Corretja, who believes that Nadal will likely be reluctant to retire earlier than including at the least yet one more trophy to his cupboard.

"No matter how he was before, he has to assess how he wants to face what he has left from now on, but being Rafa you always have the feeling that he still has a bullet in his chamber to do something great," stated Corretja earlier this yr.

"You can never doubt special people like him, even if he comes from a very long injury and the process that he will have now will be difficult, I trust that there is still that great title to celebrate with him. [By] a great title I mean a Grand Slam, because a Masters more or less is not going to change anything.

"As for being [world] primary, it will likely be fairly troublesome as a result of for that he must play quite a lot of tournaments, be very constant, and that's now not in his head. He has already been primary many occasions, it doesn't matter the weeks, and that's secondary."

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