"Still difficult to digest" - Boris Becker on Rafael Nadal's heartbreaking French Open loss to Alexander Zverev

German legend Boris Becker struggled to accept Rafael Nadal's first-round exit from the French Open on Monday, May 27. This marked Nadal's fourth overall defeat at Roland Garros and, most notably, perhaps his last appearance at the tournament.

The Spaniard didn't witness a fairytale ending in what is speculated to be his final Roland Garros. After being dominated in the first set, the 37-year-old fought back, breaking Zverev's serve and gaining a 3-2 lead in the second set. However, he couldn't maintain the advantage, as the German player rallied on to win the set in a tiebreaker.

Zverev maintained his momentum, ultimately defeating the veteran 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3. Amidst the widespread support for the 14-time French Open champion, German legend Boris Becker had also hoped for Nadal to advance further in the tournament.

The six-time Grand Slam champion expressed his dismay on X, finding it hard to digest Nadal's speculated final French Open loss. He voiced hope for Nadal to make a comeback at the Paris Olympics, marking a potential one-last appearance.

"The morning after the night before …still difficult to digest to have witnessed potentially the end of an era ! I truly hope , we see Rafa play 1 more time in Paris at the Olympics !!!"

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"For me now I can't confirm" - Rafael Nadal on his Wimbledon Championships appearance

Day Eleven: The Championships - Wimbledon 2022

Rafael Nadal is not certain about his participation at the Wimbledon Championships this year. In the post-match press conference, the 37-year-old expressed uncertainty about his involvement in Wimbledon due to the challenges of transitioning from grass to clay, especially with the Olympics taking place in Paris. He was quoted as saying:

"Looks difficult honestly. For me now I can't confirm what's going on but for me looks difficult to make a transition to grass, having Olympics again on clay. So I cannot confirm anything I need to talk with them."

He further discussed the need to analyze various factors with his team. Given his recent physical struggles, Nadal questioned the decision to switch to a completely different surface and then quickly return to clay, suggesting it might not be the best for his body.

"I need to analyze so many facts but I don't think it's going to be smart after all the things that happened to my body and I'll make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back immediately to clay. Today I feel that's not a good idea, but I can't confirm but my feelings is even if I am booked at Wimbledon because I had to, I don't think it's the positive idea right now."

Nadal has won the grass-court slam twice in his career in 2008 and 2010. His most recent appearance at Wimbledon was in the quarterfinals of the 2022 edition against Taylor Fritz. Unfortunately, he had to withdraw from the semifinals due to an abdominal strain.