Rafael Nadal will have a difficult time dealing with new generation players at French Open, believes Serena Williams' ex-coach

Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams' former coach, believes Rafael Nadal will have a difficult time competing with the new generation of players at this year's French Open.

There's no denying that the Spaniard is a dominant force on clay. He has 22 Grand Slam titles, 14 of which came at the French Open. To date, no man or woman has won as many titles at a single Grand Slam tournament.

However, according to Mouratoglou, Nadal will not be as strong a favorite to win the title this year as he has been in the past. The Frenchman highlighted Nadal's form and the fact that he is currently recovering from an injury that caused him to withdraw from back-to-back tournaments.

Mouratoglou said that there are many young players who could surprise Nadal and pose a serious threat to his aspirations for a 23rd Major.

"There is a field of guys that potentially could make a surprise," Mouratoglou said in a recent Instagram reel. "I think this Roland-Garros will be incredibly exciting because if you look at the past, there was not much suspense. We knew more or less that Rafa would win. I am not saying that he is not going to win this year, he can still win."

"But he is getting older, and it's more and more difficult. He is more and more injured. His preparation is never as good as what he wishes. It was the same last year, and he still managed to win. He had so much margin and his margin is less and less," he added.

Mouratoglou chose Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, and Stefanos Tsitsipas as players who could potentially outperform Nadal at the upcoming Major at Roland-Garros.

"You have Novak, whose level didn't drop, contrary to Rafa. And on the other hand, you have upcoming players that are so dangerous. You have, of course, Carlos Alcaraz, who is great on clay and who is playing better and better. You still have Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner," the Frenchman said.

"You have Holger Rune who is progressing a lot and of course Stefanos Tsitsipas who already reached the final in Roland-Garros, who always plays unbelievably well on clay and who is definitely a very dangerous player on that surface and someone who potentially could win a Grand Slam on that surface," he added.

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"Imagine Rafael Nadal has to play Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, how is he going to deal?" - Patrick Mouratoglou

Rafael Nadal pictured at the 2023 Australian Open - Day 3.

Patrick Mouratoglou went on to say that Rafael Nadal will find it difficult to deal with facing players like Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in consecutive rounds of the 2023 French Open.

"Imagine Rafa has to play Felix Auger-Aliassime, it's a very tough match like last year in Roland-Garros and then, the next match, he might have to play Jannik Sinner, to play Alcaraz," Mouratoglou said.

"How is he going to deal with having to play three extremely difficult matches, intense, tiring and be able to play his best in the final?" he added.

The main draw of the 2023 French Open is scheduled to begin on May 28.