Rafael Nadal holds mysterious talks with Carlos Alcaraz after French Open heartache | Tennis | Sport

And the seven-time Major champion has not played since. He first pulled out of the Madrid Open, but soon ruled out the clay season entirely, which included the Italian Open and, more importantly, Roland Garros, where he is a two-time defending champion. Nadal can relate to Alcaraz, as the retired Spaniard had numerous injury setbacks during his career, including wrist issues, one of which forced him to withdraw from the 2016 French Open.

But the 22-time Grand Slam winner believes Alcaraz has done the right thing by ruling himself out of tournaments and not playing through the injury. “He has enough experience, he’s no longer a rookie on the tour. He knows things happen,” Nadal told Radio Nacional de Espana.

“It’s obviously a big blow that it happened to him at this time of year. He’s a very complete player who wins everywhere, but where he’s most capable of making a difference, in my opinion, is on clay. It’s tough, but he’s still very young.

“From experience, things that seem like a huge tragedy, when you put them into perspective, look very different.”

Nadal is also optimistic that the injury won’t stick around for too long. He added: “I think that, fortunately, it’s an injury that won’t be chronic.

“He’s made the right decisions, taking into account that he’s very young, has a whole career ahead of him, and is undergoing the necessary treatment. It’s something I know well, because I broke the same thing twice as he has now, the problem he has with his wrist.”

Given that Nadal has had the same problem, it’s no surprise that Alcaraz has been in touch with the retired 39-year-old. But Nadal wouldn’t go into detail. “I spoke with him when it happened; what we talked about will stay between us,” he said.

Alcaraz did not set a timeline for his comeback, but is currently entered into the ATP 500 event at the Queen’s Club, which gets underway on June 15 – a couple of weeks before Wimbledon.