"If he stays healthy, Rafael Nadal could end up winning one to three more French Opens" - Patrick McEnroe

Former French Open doubles champiom Patrick McEnroe believes Rafael Nadal can win multiple Roland Garros titles in the future if the Spaniard's body holds up.

Nadal has been away from competitive tennis since July. The Spaniard was forced to call time on his 2021 season due to a chronic foot injury, which caused him to miss Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics, and the US Open.

The Spaniard recently returned to the practice courts and is due to make his comeback in December at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

In a recent interview, analyst Patrick McEnroe suggested Nadal would be the top favorite to add to his 13 titles at the French Open if he can stay fit. The 35-year-old has an astonishing 105-3 win-loss record at Roland Garros and has only ever been beaten by two players -- Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic (twice).

"If he stays healthy, he (Nadal) could end up winning one to three more French Opens," McEnroe was quoted as saying by Tennis.com. "That's a reasonable argument to make. It’s harder to make an argument that he can win multiple other majors at this point."

Rafael Nadal is showing "wear in his armour": Jimmy Arias

Rafael Nadal at the 2021 French Open

Former tennis player and analyst Jimmy Arias also spoke about Rafael Nadal's chances at the French Open. According to Arias, the Spaniard is slowly beginning to show signs of weakness on the red clay in Paris.

"I never conceded the French title to Nadal, like some others did," he said. "I’ve often felt like Rafa is on the verge of being beatable, but then he’d get to Roland Garros and win. He proved me wrong every time a lot of times. But now he’s showing some wear in that armor."

Arias may have a point. Nadal came into the 2021 Roland Garros in decent form, having won titles at Barcelona and Rome. The 35-year-old made it to the semifinals in Paris but was tested on several occasions. Alexei Popyrin nearly took a set off the Spaniard in the first round and Diego Schwartzman had Nadal on the ropes in their quarterfinal clash.

The Spaniard eventually bowed out to Novak Djokovic in a thrilling four-set clash, which is widely considered one of the best matches of the season. The loss was just Nadal's third in Paris, but it appeared to shatter his aura of invincibility and it remains to be seen if the Spaniard can regain it in the coming seasons.