"Every single decision Rafael Nadal has from this point forward, has been work backwards from the possibility of playing Roland Garros" - Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick recently stated that Rafael Nadal is now shaping all his decisions around the idea of playing well at Roland Garros.

Nadal, who missed most of the 2023 season, returned to the tennis court at the 2024 Brisbane International in January, reaching the quarterfinals. However, he has struggled with fitness since, withdrawing from the Australian Open, Qatar ExxonMobil Open, and Indian Wells Open.

On Tuesday, former-American tennis player Andy Roddick posted a video on his YouTube channel featuring him discussing that Nadal's return in January was not mainly because he wanted to win the Australian Open but because he wanted to work backward from the French Open.

“He wanted to go down to January, get some match reps in, not because he thought he could win the Australian Open but great if he finds something but because he wants to work backwards from the French Open,” Andy Roddick said (5:10)

Roddick stressed that the 37-year-old's decisions in the past 15 months were driven by the goal of preparing to play at Roland Garros.

“Every single decision that he has made from this point forward and probably 15 months has been let's work backwards from the possibility of playing Roland Garros that didn't work out Last year we didn't see him until the new year started,” Andy Roddick said.

“Not because he cared about playing in an exhibition, Rafael Nadal cared about playing in Palm Springs” - Andy Roddick

2024 Brisbane International.

In the same podcast, Andy Roddick stated that Nadal arrived in Las Vegas a week earlier due to his love for Palm Springs and his preparation for the environment. He also emphasized that playing an exhibition match doesn't guarantee readiness.

“I was in Vegas, was able to see him play, the exhibition, Netflix Slam with Carlos Alcaraz, it's not as if he pitched up to Vegas all of a sudden, he was in Palm Springs a week before that,

not because he cared about playing in an exhibition, its because he cared about playing in Palm Springs, got there was getting used to the surface trying to trying to go through his Paces properly and because he played an exhibition doesn't mean he's ready to go,” Roddick said