Rafael Nadal and his wife Maria Francisca Perello welcomed a baby boy on Saturday, October 8, in Mallorca. Nadal will however return to tennis action later this month in Paris where the final Masters 1000 event of the calendar year will be played before the proceedings on the ATP tour head to the Finals in Turin next month. However, Andy Murray has made a huge statement ahead of Nadal's return where he questioned how the Spaniard's level of tennis will be affected after being a father.
The news of Nadal becoming a father marks a standout year for the Spaniard both professionally and personally. Despite injury concerns and all the talks about retirement, Nadal bagged two Grand Slam titles - Australian Open and French Open - while standing on the verge of reclaiming the world no.1 ranking.
ALSO READ: ‘Ready to welcome Djokovic but won't lobby for him': Australian Open director
The 36-year-old was also the only member of the Big Four to not have children. Roger Federer has two sets of twins, Murray has four kids while Novak Djokovic has a son and a daughter. Speaking to press ahead of the Gijon Open, Murray looked back at Nadal's incredible year before questioning if the 22-time Slam winner would return with the same level of intensity as before.
“The Australian Open was an amazing event for him coming back from a long time without competing. The way he won with such tough matches along the way, he could have lost a couple of them, really. In the final he was done - two sets down, 3-2 and 0/40… And the management to give him the return was amazing. In the French Open it was not a big surprise for me with the record that he has there,” the world No 48 told Cadena SER after arriving in Spain for the Gijon Open.
{{/usCountry}}“The Australian Open was an amazing event for him coming back from a long time without competing. The way he won with such tough matches along the way, he could have lost a couple of them, really. In the final he was done - two sets down, 3-2 and 0/40… And the management to give him the return was amazing. In the French Open it was not a big surprise for me with the record that he has there,” the world No 48 told Cadena SER after arriving in Spain for the Gijon Open.
{{/usCountry}}He added: “And I think he also had his first child with his partner a few days ago. It will be interesting to see if he increases the level of motivation or if he reduces it by competing, I don't know, but yeah, he's had an amazing year this year.”
Nadal has been out of action since his US Open exit last month, although he did play alongside Federer in his retirement match at the Laver Cup. But Nadal is expected to be back in action for the Paris Masters before embarking on an exhibition tour alongside Casper Ruud in South America.