Roger Federer hopes Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are fit for French Open 2023

It seems like Roger Federer is as worried about Rafael Nadal's participation in the 2023 French Open as the rest of the tennis world. Federer recently remarked that the Spaniard missing the Paris Major would be "brutal," and he also expressed hope that Novak Djokovic returns strongly.

Nadal is currently nursing the hip injury that he suffered at the 2023 Australian Open. While the Spaniard was expected to return in March, he failed to recover in time and withdrew from the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open, and the Italian Open.

Djokovic, on the other hand, suffered an early exit in Monte-Carlo, where he complained about pain in his right elbow. He then lost in the quarterfinals of the Srpska Open and seemingly aggravated his injury, forcing him to pull out of the Madrid Open.

Federer was present at the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, May 7. In a conversation with Sky Sports, he was asked to comment on Nadal's fitness in light of the upcoming French Open.

The Swiss icon stated that he was excited about the tournament and that he hoped to see Nadal and Djokovic return healthy.

"It would be brutal, yes. That would be tough for tennis if Rafa wasn’t gonna be there," Federer said. "I still hope so. I saw he pulled out of Rome so I wish him the best and then obviously Novak also hasn’t played that much so I hope he is going to be strong as well. And then obviously all the young guys coming through as well. I'll be watching, that's for sure."

14-time French Open champion Nadal has played a total of four matches this year, losing three of them. In March, he dropped out of the Top-10 of the ATP rankings for the first time since 2005. If he skips Roland Garros, he could find himself out of the Top-100.

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Roger Federer says it is "great fun" to attend events like F1 after retirement

Federer (L) with Juan Martin del Potro (C)

At the 2022 Laver Cup, Roger Federer drew the curtains on his 24-year-long glorious career. Speaking to Sky Sports at the F1 Miami Grand Prix, the 20-time Grand Slam champion recalled the first two times he attended races and added that he was glad to make time for his other interests after his retirement.

"This is my third time, yes," he said. "I’ve been to Abu Dhabi, the big race with [Lewis] Hamilton and [Nico] Rosberg at the time, and then I did Barcelona qualifying last year which I really enjoyed as well. It's a bit more relaxed away from the big race and then, now here, so it’s great fun to be back, having finally a bit of time to do things like this as well.”

Federer met Juan Martin del Potro, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams at the event too. He was also the co-host at the 2023 MET Gala last week, where Serena revealed that she was expecting her second child.