Despite being a record 22-time men's singles Grand Slam winner, Nadal has only one singles Olympic medal to his name, having won gold at Beijing 2008.

He later was victorious in the men's doubles with Marc López at Rio 2016.

Nadal, who will be 38 at the time of the next Summer Games, would be regarded as one of the favourites for the tournament despite his age, as the Paris 2024 tournament is scheduled to take place at Roland-Garros, home to the French Open, which he has won 14 times.

In 18 appearances at the Grand Slam, the Spaniard has only three defeats to his name, with his other non-winning year seeing him pull out in the third round due to injury.

Speaking to radio programme El Partidazo de Cope, Blanco said Nadal must be selected for the Olympics, believing he can go all the way.

"I agree, you have to take Rafael Nadal to the Paris 2024 Games no matter what," said the COE President.

"If he goes, he will be an Olympic champion for sure."

Despite a series of injuries this year, Nadal won the Australian and French Opens earlier in 2022 - even starting with a record of 20-0 for the first time in his career.

At the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Finals at the end of the year in Turin, Nadal only won one of his three round-robin matches, failing to advance to the semi-finals.

Recently, Nadal reached the milestone of 900 consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the ATP rankings - never exiting since first getting there in April 2005.