Global Courant 2023-05-18 23:15:09
Rafael Nadal pulls out of French Open and plans to retire in 2024
Rafael Nadal will miss the French Open for the first time in 19 years after a hip injury rules out the record 14-time men’s singles champion.
The 36-year-old Spaniard, who has won 22 major titles, also said he plans to retire after the 2024 season.
“I didn’t make the decision, my body made the decision. Playing Roland Garros is impossible,” he said.
“Next year will probably be my last year. That’s my idea. If I continue now, I won’t succeed.”
Nadal, along with Serbian Novak Djokovic, has the joint record number of major victories in men. He has won 70 other ATP titles and spent 209 weeks at world number one – the sixth longest time in ATP history.
Known as the ‘King of Clay’, Nadal has won 112 of his 115 matches at the French Open.
However, the Mallorcan southpaw has not played since suffering hip problems at the Australian Open in January.
Nadal practiced in recent weeks, but was not fit enough to play a tournament in the run-up to Roland Garros.
The French Open begins in Paris on May 28 and runs through June 11.
“I’ve been working every day as much as I can for the last four months and they’ve been difficult because we couldn’t find a solution to the problems I had in Australia,” he added.
“I’m still in the position where I can’t feel ready to compete at the level I need to play at Roland Garros.
“I’m not the guy who’s going to be at Roland Garros trying to be there and get into a position that I don’t like being in.”
Nadal said he must retire from playing in the near future to fully recover and complete a planned bye-season in 2024.
His participation in Wimbledon this year remains in doubt. The championships, which Nadal won in 2008 and 2010, begin at the All England Club on July 3 and run through July 16.
“I’ll stop for a while, maybe a month and a half, maybe two months, maybe three months or maybe four months. I don’t know. I don’t like predicting the future,” he said.
“I will do the right thing for my body and personal happiness.
“My goal and ambition is to try to stop and give myself a chance to enjoy next year.
“That’s my idea, but I can’t say 100% that it will be like that. My idea is to try and enjoy and say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important to me.”
Nadal injured his hip in a second round defeat to American Mackenzie MacDonald in Melbourne and was initially expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks.
An MRI scan two days after the game showed a tear in his left psoas muscle.
Last month, Nadal announced he would not be able to play the Madrid Open because the injury “still hadn’t healed” and was planning another course of treatment.
He then pulled out of this month’s Italian Open – another major clay-court tournament before the French Open – saying he had still not been able to train at a high level.
On Thursday, he announced during a press conference at his academy in Mallorca that he will miss Roland Garros for the first time in his career.
Nadal won the French Open title on his first appearance there in 2005 and went on to win 13 more times over the next 17 years.
No player has won as many singles titles at one major tournament as the Spaniard at Roland Garros.
Roland-Garros tournament director Amelie Mauresmo called it a “heartbreaking” decision.
“We will miss Rafael Nadal, whose fate is closely linked to that of Roland-Garros.
“I can only imagine the pain and sadness he must feel after having to make such a difficult decision.
“We hope to see him at Roland-Garros next year.”
‘Nadal hopes for more titles’ – analysis
Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent
Missing the French Open for the first time since 2004, Nadal hopes he could win a 15th title by this time next year in Paris.
He is very keen to say goodbye next year in Melbourne, Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Paris, Wimbledon and New York. But you just know that he also very much hopes that he can win these tournaments for the last time.
However, it is not very encouraging to hear him say that no solution has yet been found for his hip problem.
And when he admitted that pain prevented him from enjoying both training and competition in recent years, it reminded me of Andy Murray: who himself took his sport break, and in his case surgery, to – above all – improve his quality of functioning. improve. to live.
Tennis has adapted to the loss of Serena Williams and Roger Federer. And now there is a gap the size of Rafael Nadal in the summer schedule.
But if it gives us another year, it’s worth the wait.
