LONDON (Reuters) – Alam ni three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten ang pakiramdam na magkaroon ng career na pupog ng injury, ngunit naniniwala siyang magbabalik si Rafael Nadal na mas malakas mula sa kanyang mga kasalukuyang iniinda.
Ang Spaniard na si Nadal ay hindi pa muling nakapaglalaro mula nang gulantangin ni Nick Kyrgios sa Wimbledon dahil sa wrist problem at pagtatanggal sa kanyang appendix.
Si Nadal, na ang ika-siyam na titulo sa French Open noong Hunyo ang natatanging highlight sa taon, ay magbabalik sa aksiyon matapos ang Pasko at inaasahan ni Kuerten ang 28-anyos na mas maghahamon para sa mas maraming grand slam sa 2015.
“It’s worrying for all of us who love watching him when he’s injured but then he keeps surprising us,” sambit ng 39-anyos na si Kuerten, na napilitang magretiro dahil sa mga problema sa balakang, sa Reuters.
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“He turned it around last year and finished up as the number one again. Anything is possible for Rafa, but it depends on his physical condition and the level of Novak (Djokovic).”
Ngunit nagpahayag din si Kuerten ng babala.
“His style has a massive impact on the body, it’s based on his physical performance a lot,” sabi ni Kuerten, na kilala rin sa tawag na “Guga”.
Bagamat mukhang labis ang paghiling kay Nadal na agad magbalik sa porma sa kanyang paghahamon sa Australian Open – ang unang grand slam ng taon – naniniwala si Kuerten na ibibigay lahat ni Nadal ang makakaya para sa susunod na claycourt season.
“Rafa thinks that is his territory,” aniya. “I think even when he’s 95 years old you won’t be able to keep him down. He’s like from another planet at Roland Garros.”
Si Kuerten, na tinapos ang 2000 bilang world number one matapos talunin sina Pete Sampras at Andre Agassi ng magkasunod sa ATP Tour Finals sa Lisbon, na nagretiro noong 2008, ay inamin na ang mga natamong injury makaraan niyang makuha ang ikatlong titulo sa Roland Garros noong 2001, ang nagpabagsak sa kanya.
“The late 90s and 2000s it was the extreme killing time of tennis players,” ani kuerter. “You look at (Marcelo) Rios, myself, (Magnus) Norman, even Marat (Safin). They pushed the players so hard that they started to break one after the other.
“We had to play nine obligatory Masters Series, four grand slams and then the season carried on until December, one month extra, and the Masters Series finals were best of five sets.
“The ATP realised that it was too much and not fair and they are getting the schedule fixed.”
Wala naman umanong pagsisisi si Kuerten, na nananatiling popular sa Brazil kung saan nagpapatakbo siya ng tennis schools para sa mahihirap na kabataan.
“For sure my best years in tennis didn’t happen,” saad niya. “But my life in tennis was great and it would be unfair to ask for more.”
