Rafael Nadal has announced his withdrawal from the French Open later this month due to the ongoing hip injury that has kept him out of competition since January. As his body continues to struggle with the physicality of professional tennis, Nadal also revealed that he will probably retire in 2024 and he will take a break for a number of months in order to be prepared for what he believes will the final year of his career.
In a scheduled press conference from the Rafa Nadal Academy close to his home in Manacor, Mallorca, the 14-time French Open champion described how he has felt low in recent months while struggling with his injuries.
“I was working as much as possible for the last four months,” said Nadal. “It has been very difficult because we have not been able to find the solution to the problem that I had in Australia, so today I’m still in the position that I’m not able to feel ready to compete at the standards that I need to be to play Roland Garros.”
Nadal, 36, suffered his latest injury to his psoas muscle during his Australian Open third-round loss to Mackenzie McDonald in January and he had initially believed that he would be out for only six to eight weeks. Instead, the Spaniard’s recovery did not progress as planned and he was forced to attempt different treatment. Nadal returned to training, but four months later he remains unable to practise at high intensity and without pain. Nadal said he will now step away from the sport until he feels it is the right moment to return.
“My position is to stop – I don’t know when I’m gonna be able to come back to the practice court but I’m gonna stop for a while. Maybe two months, maybe one month and a half, maybe three months, maybe four months,” said Nadal.
Throughout his career Nadal has struggled with a high rate of injuries but in recent years his body has deteriorated. Last year, he made a triumphant return to competition after an absence of almost six months due to a chronic foot injury, winning the Australian Open in his second tournament back and then a record-setting 22nd grand slam title at the French Open in June. He now shares the men’s grand slam singles record with Novak Djokovic.
After undergoing a procedure that finally addressed his foot injury immediately after last year’s French Open, Nadal reached the Wimbledon semi-finals before suffering an abdominal injury that forced him to withdraw before his scheduled match against Nick Kyrgios. Upon his return later in the summer, Nadal struggled to recover his fitness and form, losing seven of his previous nine matches. His extended absence led to him falling out of the top 10 for the first time in 18 years (912 weeks), an ATP record.
“Since after the pandemic, I was not able to hold the practices and to hold the daily work in a good way so I was not able to enjoy the practices and the competition because there was too many problems, too many times having to stop for physical issues. Too many days here practising with pain,” said Nadal.
Nadal will turn 37 next month during the French Open. By taking a break, he hopes that he will be best positioned to enjoy what he believes will be the final year of his illustrious career in 2024.
“My goal, my ambition is to try to stop to give myself an opportunity to enjoy next year that’s probably gonna be my last year in the professional tour. That’s my idea, even if I can’t say 100% that’s gonna be like this because you never know what’s gonna happen,” said Nadal.
“My idea, my motivation is try to say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important for me in my tennis career and just enjoy being competitive and enjoy being on court, which today is not possible.”
No tournament will feel the absence of Nadal more than Roland Garros, which has already erected a statue of him on its grounds. Nadal has loomed over the men’s tournament since he won his maiden grand slam tournament on his French Open debut in 2005, establishing a level of dominance at the event that no other player has managed anywhere else. He has won the event in 14 of his 18 appearances and compiled a 112-3 (97%) record in Paris.
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Despite his injuries, Nadal had also been present at the French Open for 18 consecutive years and he has won the event during numerous physical difficulties, including last year when he won despite playing with his foot numbed by anaesthetic. Nadal’s only other withdrawal occurred mid-tournament ahead of his third-round match in 2016 due to a wrist injury. The tournament, and the tour itself, will look entirely different in his absence.
Meanwhile, the women’s No 1, Iga Swiatek, is undergoing tests after being forced to retire from her Italian Open quarter-final match against Elena Rybakina on Wednesday night due to a thigh injury. Swiatek, the defending champion in Paris, is the favourite to win her third French Open title.
