Andy Roddick looked ahead to Roland Garros and Rafael Nadal's possible participation at the event, highlighting his physical state and the draw implications.
This year's Roland Garros will be a fascinating event for many reasons. For one, we might get Nadal's final participation, which will be bittersweet for all involved, players and fans.
We also might see an iconic event as several names will be fighting for the trophy. Will Carlos Alcaraz win his first Roland Garros? Will Jannik Sinner win a second Grand Slam? Will Novak Djokovic return to the winners' circle? Will Nadal win a farewell one?
There are so many questions, and nobody can really predict which answers we'll get. For Roddick, Nadal's story is the most interesting one. According to the American, he's one injury away from retiring, and that's quite scary.
The likelihood of this being his final event is pretty high, and that's just not what anybody wants to see. If he enters it fully healthy, though, he will be among the favourites.
"Any injury from here on out could be the last injury. I still feel if he gets matches in and if he gets a clean bill of health for two or three events going into Roland Garros, certainly one of the favorites."
Another important factor is that Nadal will be an unseeded player at the event. He's ranked way outside of the Top 100, which means he'll be a landmine for any top players.
As crazy as it sounds, we could actually see a first-round match between Nadal and his long-time rival Djokovic. Djokovic is hoping to see Nadal at the event, but he likely doesn't want to see him as his first-round opponent.
"I could tell you if I was one of the top seeds, who I would not wanna play first round, if he’s just floating in the draw, is a guy who’s won that event 14 times."
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