Breaking news: Rafael Nadal withdraws from Roland Garros!
(Provided by Tennis World USA)
22-time Major winner Rafael Nadal will not compete at the upcoming Roland Garros, withdrawing from his favorite Major for the first time since 2004! Rafa was not able to recover in time, he struggled with a serious hip injury for four months and could not come out injury-free before his beloved tournament.
Nadal should reveal the terrible news at the press conference on Thursday, making one of the most difficult decisions of his career! Rafa has won Roland Garros 14 times, dominated the Majors like no other player before him and suffered only three defeats in 18 trips to Paris.
Nadal injured his left hip in the second round of the Australian Open in January, missed eight tournaments and repeated it at Roland Garros despite trying everything to recover.. Nadal suffered another setback last Wednesday, ending early training at home in Mallorca and struggling through the pain.
Carlos Moya and Marc López were with Rafa when his training career ended, and things did not look good for the clay court king ahead of his beloved Major. After dropping out of the top-10 for the first time in nearly 18 years, Nadal will drop out of the top-100 after Roland Garros after spending two decades in the select group.
The Spaniard will try to recover soon and compete on grass, although there are no return dates.
Rafael Nadal will miss his first Roland Garros in 19 years!
Nadal battled injuries in 2022 and still captured the first two Majors for the first time in a career.
Rafa led the ATP race and had a great chance to become world no. 1 to 36. Instead, the Spaniard suffered an abdominal tear at Wimbledon, which ruined his progress. Nadal retired before the semi-final showdown with Nick Kyrgios, and we have yet to see him at this level again.
Rafa has played just 13 games since last August, never finding his rhythm and finding more disappointments. Nadal made a slow start to the current season and entered the Australian Open lacking confidence after two defeats at the United Cup.
He suffered a serious hip injury against Mackenzie McDonald in the second round and lost the title in the worst way. The Spaniard revealed a grade 2 iliopsoas that should have kept him off the court for two months. Instead, a 22-time Major champion has yet to recover, losing ground and experiencing one of the worst periods of his incredible career.
