(Reuters) – Former British number one Tim Henman believes the prospect of a calendar Grand Slam will motivate newly crowned French Open champion Rafa Nadal to play at Wimbledon, an event the Spaniard said he would play only if his body allowed it.
Nadal, who has been battling a chronic foot injury, demolished Norway’s Casper Ruud to claim a record-extending 14th Roland Garros crown on Sunday but refused to commit to the grasscourt major, which gets underway on June 27.
Henman, a four-times Wimbledon semi-finalist who is now on the board of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, said the 36-year-old could win the title for the third time.
“If Nadal is healthy, which is a big challenge with his foot injury – can he win Wimbledon? Absolutely, and that’s incredibly exciting,” Henman told Eurosport.
“Don’t forget he’s won the Australian Open, the French Open, now you can talk about the Grand Slam being on. Surely it is going to motivate him to keep on going.
“That’s what we are keeping our fingers and toes crossed for because it’s a privilege to see one of the greatest champions in our sport playing like that.”
Nadal’s victory over Ruud took him to 22 major titles, two clear of longtime rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the all-time Grand Slam list.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
