French Open: Amelie Mauresmo - 'I'll stop making predictions about Nadal'
Rafael Nadal is one of the big question marks before the French Open, which starts on Sunday. Despite the Spaniard's recent injury concerns, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo is by no means writing off the 13-time Paris champion.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: May 20, 2022, 03:27 pm
The 2020 edition of the French Open is likely to have left a lasting impression on Amelie Mauresmo. We remember: A lot had been speculated in the run-up to the tournament about the balls, the conditions in early autumn and the (negative) implications that all of this had for the game of Rafael Nadal - to date the really big dominator of the tournament at the Bois de Boulogne - should entail.
Everything came very differently - and yet the same as always. Rafael Nadal stormed in an impressive manner to win the title at the French Open, even giving final opponent Novak Djokovic the maximum penalty in set one on the way to Grand Slam title number 20. And silenced all the speculation about him in one fell swoop. Speculations that are now coming up again in the run-up to the 2022 edition of the French Open.
Nadal with problems in Rome
Nadal has had a mixed preparation for the second major event of the year. A quarter-final in Madrid was followed by an appearance in Rome, which gave cause for concern: from the end of the second set, Nadal was visibly battered, hobbled across the pitch and then complained of increasing pain in his foot. For the French Open, Nadal is therefore not the absolute top favorite for the title for many.
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, on the other hand, does not want to speculate much about the 35-year-old's form in advance, as she explained: "Nadal knows himself very well. He has played with this injury for most of his career and has obviously coped well with it. In Rome we have we've seen that it can spread very quickly, even during a game," explained the Frenchwoman. "I can't predict the future. When I look at the training sessions he seems fine but a tournament is another story."
It's those situations that make Mauresmo Nadal's performances from 2020 spring to mind. "I remember 2020. It was a lesson about any prediction about Nadal, especially about his good or bad preparation," said the former world number one. The conditions were anything but perfect for the Manacor bull and "yet he didn't lose a set," emphasized the 42-year-old. "I no longer make predictions about Nadal. Most of the time when he's here, things go very well for him."
Here is the individual tableau of the French Open!
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