Roger Federer said he hopes Rafael Nadal will recover in time for the French Open and that it would be a ¡°brutal¡± blow for tennis if the 14-time Roland Garros champion is absent this year.
Nadal has been dealing with a hip injury he suffered at the Australian Open in January, and fears that the Spaniard may miss the Paris Grand Slam grew after he pulled out of this week¡¯s Italian Open.
Nadal skipped last week¡¯s Madrid Open and also missed tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
¡°It would be brutal, it would be tough for tennis if Rafa isn¡¯t going to be there,¡± 20-times Grand Slam winner Federer told Sky Sports on Sunday at Formula One¡¯s Miami Grand Prix.
¡°I still hope so, I saw he pulled out of Rome so I wish him the best.
¡°Obviously Novak (Djokovic) hasn¡¯t been playing that much so I hope he¡¯s going to be strong as well and then all the young guys coming through as well,¡± added Federer, who retired from tennis last year.
Nadal has competed at the French Open every year since winning the first of his men¡¯s record 22 major titles in Paris in 2005. The claycourt major begins on May 28.
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