Rafael Nadal's coach addresses French Open fears as injured Spaniard yet to play on clay

Carlos Moya has given an update on Rafael Nadal’s comeback hopes following a worrying update on the Spaniard’s injury last week. The world No 14 recently started new treatment after he was unable to recover from the psoas injury he picked up in January. It has raised fears that Nadal could be forced to miss the French Open but his coach insisted the event still their main objective.

Nadal has been out of action since January when he got injured during his second-round Australian Open loss. The 36-year-old was given a six-to-eight-week recovery timeframe but is now on week 15 and has been forced to miss the clay season so far.

After pulling out of Monte Carlo and Barcelona, the ‘King of Clay’ withdrew from Madrid last week and shared a lengthy update on his lack of progress, opting to start a new treatment. With less than five weeks until the French Open, there have been concerns that Nadal won’t be ready in time to play his most successful tournament.

But his coach has now tamed some of those fears, admitting that playing the clay-court Grand Slam remains their main goal. “Times are tough because Rafa is a beast of competition and it's his favourite time of the year,” Moya recently said, per L’Equipe.

“But the objective remains Roland Garros.” While the retired pro-turned-coach conceded that Nadal didn’t have the best build-up to the French Open, he appeared to back his man given his record in Paris.

Moya added: “The preparation will not be ideal, but it's Rafael Nadal, we can always expect the best.” It comes after Nadal’s former coach - his uncle Toni - claimed that the 14-time Roland Garros champion would be a favourite for the title if he made the second week.