‘He’s master of underpromising & overdelivering’: Roddick on Nadal’s doubts about French Open participation

Former player Andy Roddick has questioned Rafael Nadal's doubts over his participation at the 2024 French Open, which kicks off later this month.This year's French Open is likely to be Nadal's final appearance at the clay court major, the 14-time Roland Garros champion has remained tight lipped on his participation in the second Grand Slam of the year, even stating that the 'world does not end with Roland Garros'.

Amid all this, Roddick recently shared his take on Nadal's uncertainty, remaining sceptical about the possibility of the former world number one skipping the French Open and highlighting his tendency to 'underpromise and overdeliver'.

Speaking on the Served with Andy Roddick' podcast, "At the beginning of the tournament he said, ‘if I feel the way that I feel physically right now with confidence, not knowing what I have, I don’t know if I’ll play Roland Garros.’ I tend to not believe that. I think he’s the master of under promising and over delivering."

He further opined, "During his prime, he’d be going into like the first round of Roland Garros against someone ranked like 70 in the world and be like, 'I don’t know it could go either way." Roddick added, "I used to not really believe that, I’d go like full Davenport violent eye roll when he would say it but then I honestly think he just works from a place of this could go wrong, I’m going to hustle my way to make it not so and give my best effort."

Nadal underwent a hip surgery in 2023 and missed most of the season, including the French Open. Back then, he indicated that 2024 can be his last season. He missed the Australian Open and has played just a few competitions, including the Barcelona and Madrid Open, is running against time to regain full fitness for the Roland Garros, which kicks off on May 20. He has earned direct entry into the French Open main draw via protected rankings.