Nicolas Almagro: Rafael Nadal will be more hungry at Roland Garros after shutdown

Former Top 10 player Nicolas Almagro says Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal will be even more hungry to win at Roland Garros if the tournament is played this year after the current tennis shutdown.

Nicolas Almagro says Rafael Nadal is the favourite at Roland Garros

The ATP Tour's Spanish website posted an update on their Twitter account, recalling Almagro's famous comment from the 2008 Roland Garros tournament where he had said that Nadal will continue to win the French Open until he was 65 years old. During his quarterfinal against Nadal at Roland Garros 2008, Almagro had said, "This guy is going to win Roland Garros 40 years in a row. He will be 65 years old and will continue to win Roland Garros." Almagro responded on Twitter saying that Nadal would be the favourite to win once again this year. "I still maintain what I said (in 2008), if the tournament is played this year, for me he (Nadal) wins again... A Number One never gets tired of lifting titles, and (Rafa) will be much more hungry even after everything that has happened."

Rafael Nadal is a 12-time Grand Slam champion and has won 19 Grand Slam singles titles in his career - the second most by any tennis player in men's tennis history. He has lost only two matches in his career at Roland Garros. 33 year old Nadal is currently ranked No. 2 in the world. Nadal has also won 35 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles, 21 ATP Tour 500 titles and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. In addition, he has held the world No. 1 ranking for a total of 209 weeks, including being the year-end No. 1 five times. The French Open Grand Slam event has been rescheduled to late September this year due to the current pandemic. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2yLdxXE