Former British No. 1 Laura Robson has outlined the sympathy that she currently feels for the injured Rafael Nadal.
Despite the 22-time Grand Slam champion's best efforts, he had to withdraw from the Monte-Carlo Masters. His uncle Toni recently discussed the reasons for Nadal's withdrawal from the event he has won on 11 occasions.
The 37-year-old is continuing to practice, hoping to be ready for future clay court events. Mats Wilander thinks his fear of a career-ending injury is making him cautious about entering tournaments.
Robson is someone who understands what Nadal is going through better than most. She had her very promising career cut short due to multiple injury problems that plagued her for several years.
In her article for Sky Sports, Robson described why she feels bad for Nadal after the various physical issues he has endured in recent years.
"I feel really bad for him because it seems like there is just one issue after the other and it happens to everyone when you start coming back from such a long time off. His original hip flexor injury that saw him unable to compete for a year and that might be fine now but then he's picked up the back issue and the knee problem."
Robson then said Nadal's winning mentality means he is unlikely to want to play in events unless he feels winning them is a realistic possibility.
"It feels non-stop for him at the moment. He's won Monte-Carlo 11 times so he's probably thinking, 'I'm not going to play in this tournament unless I know that I can win it'.
The former British No. 1 ended her section about Nadal by expressing hope that the legend of the sport can get the send-off from tennis that his extraordinary career truly deserves.
"Nadal has previously stated that he wants to retire after the 2024 season and you really hope that he is going to get the send-off that he wants because he's travelled to a lot of tournaments, almost competed in them and then had to pull out in the last moment."