Tennis legend Rafael Nadal will miss the French Open for the first time in 19 years after a hip injury ruled him out. The 36-year-old Spaniard also told reporters on Thursday that he plans to retire after the 2024 season.
“I didn’t make the decision, my body made it. Playing at Roland Garros is impossible,” he said.
“Next year will probably be my last year, but if I continue now, I will not realize this idea of mine,” said the tennis player, who holds the joint record for the number of major triumphs among men – 22 titles, together with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. Nadal has won 70 other ATP titles and spent 209 weeks as world number one – the sixth best in ATP history.
Known as the King of Clay, Nadal has won 112 of his 115 matches at the French Open.
However, the Mallorcan left-hander has not played since a hip problem at the Australian Open in January.
Nadal has been training in recent weeks but is not fit enough for the French Open starting on May 28.
“I have worked as much as possible in the last four months, which have been difficult because we have not been able to find the solution to the problems I had in Australia,” said the Spaniard, adding that he did not feel in his standard form for Roland Garros.
“I’m going to 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 to predict the future. My idea is to try to enjoy myself and say goodbye with all the tournaments that were important for me,” said the tennis player.
In a statement to Nadal, the French Open said they could not “imagine how difficult the decision is” for the player.
“We will definitely miss you. Take care of yourself so you can come back stronger on the courts. I hope to see you next year in Paris,” added the organizers of Roland Garros.
Due to his absence from Roland Garros and inability to defend his points from last year, Nadal will remain with 445 points in the ATP rankings and will fall out of the Top 100. He will probably drop to around 130th position, which has not happened since March 2003.
In recent years, Nadal has been forced to treat 23 different injuries in almost all parts of the body.
