Nadal takes cheeky dig at Federer over clay-court absence
Rafa Nadal had a very cheeky response when asked about Roger Federer taking a break from the ATP tour ahead of the French Open.
Federer hasn't played since he beat Nadal in the Miami Open final in early April, choosing to skip every tournament in the lead-up to Roland Garros.
The Miami Open final marked the third time this year that Federer has beaten Nadal, including the Australian Open final and at Indian Wells.
Nadal and Federer in Miami. Image: Getty
So when asked about Federer's absence from the current Madrid Open, Nadal offered a pretty unsurprising response.
"Of course I won't miss Federer in Madrid," admitted Nadal.
"But for fans and tournament, when Roger plays is always great news."
During Federer's break Nadal has picked up back-to-back titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
Nadal has always had the wood over Federer on clay, but Aussie great Todd Woodbridge recently said he that could change this year.
Woodbridge is concerned for Nadal's fitness going into the French Open owing to the Spaniard's hectic schedule leading up to the tournament.
The 30-year-old will have played more tournaments than any other player in the top five going into the second grand slam of the year.
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Nadal's main rivals - Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka – have all taken breaks since the start of the season and skipped at least one tournament during the clay court swing of the season.
"My main concern for Rafa in the coming weeks is overplaying," Woodbridge told Tennis World USA.
"He's already won two clay events, and is scheduled to play both Madrid and Rome in the coming weeks.
"But to win a 10th Roland Garros he needs to go in as fresh as possible. Once you're in your thirties, you have to respect your body – it doesn't recover as well as it does in your mid-twenties."
Nadal will have just one week of recovery between the end of the tournament in Italy and start of the second major of the year in Paris.
