French journalist slammed by Lucas Pouille and Roger-Vasselin for calling Rafael Nadal 'pitiful' amid Indian Wells withdrawal
ATP
The French tennis players, Lucas Pouille and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, criticized the statements of a journalist about Rafael Nadal. The 22-times Grand Slam champion withdrew from Indian Wells just a day before his debut, raising doubts about the end of his career.
The 37-year-old Spaniard only played in the Brisbane International, but subsequently withdrew consecutively from the Australian Open, Qatar Open, and this time won't be participating in the Tennis Paradise.
The news had repercussions in the tennis world, and the journalist Bertrand Latour, working for the French giant L’Equipe, insinuated that Nadal should retire soon as he seems to be in an increasingly difficult situation: "Each day that advances brings him closer to an end which will be pitiful and which does not live up to his talent," Latour said on L'Equipe.
His compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin responded to the journalist's comment and expressed his displeasure with the treatment towards the former world No. 1: "Please never associate Nadal and "pitiful" in the same sentence again," Roger-Vasselin wrote in X (former Twitter).
Former world No. 10 Lucas Pouille also came to Nadal's defense and criticized the journalist, whom he described as disrespectful: "Another great journalist.. what a shame!! Please the @lequipe do something… how can we be so disrespectful,"
Both Roger-Vasselin and Pouille are competing in the Indian Wells Masters 1000. The former begins his doubles campaign on Friday, March 8, alongside Nicolas Mahut, while Pouille advanced from the qualifiers and is already in the second round after defeating Daniel Altmaier in the opening match. He will now face the 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
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