Rafael Nadal celebrated great successes on clay in Paris. But the tennis star was injured almost as often. That’s why he’s canceling his favorite tournament, the French Open, for the first time.
According to media reports, the 22-time Grand Slam winner is to announce his withdrawal from the second major of the year at a press conference. The tournament starts on May 28th.
Nadal had won his favorite tournament on clay in Paris 14 times last year despite chronic foot pain. In Roland Garros, the clay court king has a unique record of 112:3 wins in 18 participations.
According to the Spanish media, the 36-year-old will not yet announce the end of his career. Although he has constantly had to deal with injuries in recent years and was only able to play when he was fit. His manager Benito Perez-Barbadillo said Nadal would speak to the media “about his participation in Roland Garros”.
According to the Spanish sports newspaper “AS”, Nadal will no longer play a match this year. Rather, he wants to prepare himself completely for the coming year, in which he then wants to end his career. His goals: The second Olympic gold and his 15th title at the French Open.
Nadal has been plagued by hip pain since his second round exit at the Australian Open in January. In Melbourne he suffered a tear in his hip flexor. That’s why he had to cancel the tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.
The former world number one has only played four games this season. He lost seven of his last nine matches. “We are in a difficult situation,” Nadal said a few days ago.
Nadal, currently ranked 14th in the world, will lose the 2000 points for last year’s win. So that after the end of the French Open he will slip down to 120th in the new world rankings.
This would mean that Nadal would not be in the top 100 for the first time since March 24, 2003.
2023-05-18 07:40:00
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