Boris Becker has urged tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to prolong their careers amid retirement rumours.
Spanish tennis icon Nadal aims to overcome injury ahead of the French Open in May when he hopes to win the clay court tournament for a 14th time. However, retirement rumours have been raised after the 36-year-old struggled with a leg injury while exiting the Australian Open in January
Nadal has withdrawn from both the Indian Wells and Miami Masters this month delaying his return to competitive action until April. His absence means the world No.8 risks dropping out of the top-10 rankings for the first time in 18 years.
Six-time Grand Slam winner Becker has urged Nadal and Djokovic to resist the temptation of retirement for now. He told Eurosport: "The impact they have on tennis is huge, we will only truly understand it when they retire. God willing, I hope Novak and Rafa play for at least a couple more years as we will all benefit from that, not just tennis but sport in general.”
Despite his fight against injuries, Becker believes Nadal will be back to his best on his favourite clay surface - which the Spaniard has won 63 of his 92 ATP titles on.
The German tennis pundit added: "The next major is Roland-Garros where, in my eyes, the favourite still is Rafael Nadal. But Novak is on his heels. So let’s see what these two great champions will deliver for us.”
World No.1 Djokovic was in unstoppable form in January's Australian Open winning his 22nd Grand Slam crown. The Serbian has also set an all-time record for the most weeks at No.1 with 378 and counting. The star has his eyes on another major crown at Roland-Garros and wants to face Nadal in the final.
“The rivalry that counts the most matches in the history of any rivalry in tennis,” Djokovic told reporters in Serbia last week. “I would like to meet in the Roland Garros final, if I could choose, I believe we would both sign it now.”
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Roger Federer called an end to his career last year after undergoing knee surgery. Becker has suggested an alternative career for the sporting greats when Nadal and Djokovic follow the Swiss star into retirement.
He added: "I think that Djokovic, along with Nadal and Federer, go beyond being sporting icons, they are cultural icons. Each of them could perfectly be the president of their respective countries, they have followers that go far beyond their respective countries: Serbia, Spain and Switzerland.”
