Rafael Nadal, a record 14-time men’s singles champion, will miss the French Open for the first time in 19 years due to a hip ailment.
The 36-year-old Spaniard, who has 22 major men’s championship victories, recently declared his intention to retire following the 2024 campaign. He said;
I didn’t make the decision, my body made the decision. To play Roland Garros is impossible. Next year will be my last year on tour – that is my idea. If I keep going now I won’t be able to make that happen.
Nadal has not played since suffering the injury at the Australian Open in January. He will be 37 the following month. In the weeks leading up to Roland Garros, Nadal has been working out, but he is still not in tournament shape. The French Open gets underway in Paris on May 28 and lasts until June 11.
He had added thus;
I was working as much as possible every single day for the past four months and they have been difficult because I’ve not been not able to find a solution to the problem I had in Australia. I’m not in the position to be able to compete to be at the standard to play Roland Garros. I’m not a guy who will just be at Roland Garros.
Nadal said he needs to stop playing for the foreseeable future in order to make a full recovery and return healthy to complete a farewell season in 2024.
I will stop for a while, maybe one month, maybe three months or maybe four months. I do not like to predict the future. I will do the right thing for my body and personal happiness. My motivation is to enjoy the season and say goodbye to all the tournaments I have enjoyed in my career. If I keep going now I will not be able to make that happen.
During his loss against American Mackenzie MacDonald in Melbourne’s second round, Rafael Nadal suffered a hip injury.
He had anticipated missing six to eight weeks of action. Two days after the contest, an MRI scan revealed a tear in his left psoas muscle. When the elbow “still hadn’t healed” last month, Nadal said he would be unable to compete in the Madrid Open and that he was preparing a new course of action.
Rafael Nadal net worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Nadal is worth an estimated $220 million (£177.3m). Spanish: [rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa];[6] born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has him ranked as the No. 14 singles player in the world right now. He has held the top spot in the global rankings for 209 weeks and five times at year’s end, finishing in the top two of the standings a record 13 times.
He also holds the record for the most weeks spent in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings in a row (912 weeks), having never dropped out of the Top 10 between April 2005 and March 2023. 22 Grand Slam men’s singles trophies, including a record 14 French Open crowns, have been shared by Nadal. 92 ATP singles titles, including 36 Masters titles, have been won by him; 63 of these
