John McEnroe has no good news about Rafael Nadal's future

Rafael Nadal is taking all the time to reflect on his future and decide whether to continue being a professional tennis player. After the numerous injuries of recent years, the Spanish legend hoped that 2024 would be the year of his return to high levels, as well as the last season of his amazing career.

Despite working hard over the past few months, the level of former world number 1 this season was too low to be able to claim the most prestigious titles. The 22-time Grand Slam champion reached a single final in 2024, on the red clay of Bastad, losing sharply to Nuno Borges in an almost one-way match. The 14-time French Open champion made his debut in Paris (French Open) against Alexander Zverev and did not even shine at the Paris Olympics, where he was eliminated by his eternal rival Novak Djokovic in the second round.

Rafa chose to skip the 2024 US Open, a tournament he won four times, knowing that he could not compete on the hard court at this point in his career. Nadal’s future is very uncertain and there are no news about his intentions. The legend of Manacor will participate in the Laver Cup, which will take place in Berlin at the end of September.

Speaking with Eurosport during the 2024 US Open, ATP legend John McEnroe discussed Rafa’s future: “It feels like he is going to stop, maybe, at Laver Cup. Then again, Roger did it at Laver Cup a couple of years ago, so maybe he wants to do it in his own time. He still seems like he has an appetite to play. It seems like he is trying to get the body up to a level where he feels like he can play. Maybe see what he can do at the start of next year? I don’t know and this is a total guess, but Laver Cup could be the end for the Spaniard.

He really loves to play, more than almost anyone I’ve ever seen, but we’ve watched Andy Murray for the last six years trying to get back to that level and it’s hard when your body lets you down. It’s hard to walk way when you still want to play and you look at Murray and he wanted it so bad. It sucks when your body doesn’t cooperate and we will see with Rafa. I’d be a little surprised if he carried on playing.”