Roger Federer hopeful Rafael Nadal will make French Open after withdrawing from Rome – ‘It will be brutal’

Nadal’s rehabilitation from a hip flexor injury has taken longer than expected and heightened fears that he may miss out on the second Grand Slam of the year.

Speaking at the Miami Grand Prix to Sky Sports, Federer said: “It will be brutal yes. It’ll be tough for tennis if Rafa is not going to be there.

“I still hope so [that he makes it], I saw he pulled out of Rome so I wish him the best. Also, Novak [Djokovic] hasn’t played that much, so I hope he’s going to be strong as well.

“There are obviously all the young guys coming through as well. I’ll be watching.”

It has been a hugely frustrating start to the year for Nadal, who has already been forced to miss the clay events in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.

The Spaniard has not played since losing in the Australian Open second round, and was subsequently ruled out of the the Sunshine Double of Indian Wells and Miami.

Nadal announced the news of his most recent withdrawal on social media: “I am very sorry to announce that I will not be able to be in Rome.

“You all know how much it hurts me to miss another one of the tournaments that have marked my professional and personal career for all the love and support of the Italian tifosi.”

There had been hope that the 22-time Grand Slam champion had turned a corner in his recovery after footage emerged of Nadal practising freely at his academy.

His coach Carlos Moya gave a fairly upbeat interview with French newspaper L’Equipe regarding Nadal’s recovery and said: “Currently, we work more or less an hour and a half a day and continue to improve day by day. It is not even a matter of whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, just that you observe the progress every day.

“We are a little sad that he hasn’t played on clay yet,” Moya continued. “He is not the worst, but we try to encourage him and are always optimistic. I think it’s an urban legend that Nadal needs a lot of matches to be ready, when he came back from injury he always achieved good results.”

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