‘Don’t doubt special people like him’ – Rafael Nadal to retire a winner regardless of circumstances, says famed pundit

Alex Corretja believes Rafa Nadal “still has a bullet left in his chamber to achieve something special” as the Spaniard looks to be entering the latter stages of his career.

20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has only just made his return from a five month injury lay-off at the Abu Dhabi Exhibition.

Nadal lost to Andy Murray in the semi-finals, before then losing to Denis Shapovalov in the third-place play-off match. Despite these losses, the Spaniard revealed he was pleased with his comeback performance.

The 35-year-old great had been looking to improve his fitness after his spell on the side-lines, but Nadal revealed he had tested positive for Covid-19 upon his return to Spain, leaving his Australian Open involvement uncertain.

However, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley is “confident” Nadal will recover in time to compete at the first Grand Slam of the season.

Renowned coach and analyst Alex Corretja recently revealed his concerns surrounding Nadal’s movements and mobility. Although, Corretja told Marca that he feels “Rafa [Nadal] will retire being a winner, whatever happens.

“No matter how he was before, he has to assess how he wants to face what he has left from now on, but being Rafa you always have the feeling that he still has a bullet in his chamber to do something great.

“You can never doubt special people like him, even if he comes from a very long injury and the process that he will have now will be difficult, I trust that there is still that great title to celebrate with him.

“[By] a great title I mean a Grand Slam, because a Masters 1000 more or less is not going to change anything,” Corretja claimed.

“As for being [World] number one, it will be quite difficult because for that he needs to play a lot of tournaments, be very consistent, and that is no longer in his head. He has already been number one many times, it does not matter the weeks, and that is secondary.”

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