There is a lot of mystery surrounding Rafael Nadal's career right as the latest developments haven't been positive, but Novak Djokovic hopes to see his rival back.
There is always a two-fold perspective when players talk about other players competing at the same events. Obviously, from a selfish standpoint, most tennis players would prefer to have some of the best not playing because their presence makes it much more difficult to win the event, which is the ultimate goal.
On another note, most are competitors, and they enjoy matchups like that, so from that perspective, they want the strongest draw possible. It's always been simple for Djokovic: he wants the best to play at the events because that's best for tennis.
Considering that, he was rather vocal about wanting Nadal at Roland Garros this year, even though the latest developments haven't made many optimistic about that. The Serbian told Eurosport that he'd also like to play Nadal once more at the event if possible.
"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. We travelled together to America. I saw him at Indian Wells, he was trying his best to play. It’s his favourite surface."
Nadal's most recent update didn't sound too promising, but he's still practicing daily, with the French Open likely as his goal, and that's also where Djokovic would like to see him "for the sake of tennis."
"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."
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