Hopes that Rafael Nadal will be fighting for a 15th French Open singles title this spring were hit hard on Thursday.
Nadal, 36, from Spain, announced that injuries to the psoas muscle in his lower abdomen and upper right leg he sustained at the Australian Open in January had not healed as he and his doctors and coaches expected had. In his statement that he would miss his third clay-court tournament – the Madrid Open, which starts next week – Nadal said he had no timeline as to when he might be able to play competitive tennis again.
“The injury hasn’t healed yet and I can’t figure out what I need to do to compete,” Nadal said in a video posted to social media on Thursday. “I’ve been training but a few days ago we decided to change course a bit, do another treatment and see if things improve to try and get to what’s next.”
Losing Nadal for the French Open would be a huge blow to the sport and tournament, where he has long been a top attraction. There is a statue of him in front of the main stadium.
It would give Novak Djokovic a huge chance to overtake Nadal in the race for most Grand Slam singles titles. Both players have won 22, with Djokovic winning Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open in January. Djokovic is the last player to defeat Nadal in Paris in what is among the rarest feats in tennis. He defeated him in the semifinals in 2021. Nadal’s record at Roland Garros is 112-3.
Nadal’s injury came during his Australian Open second round loss to Mackenzie McDonald. Nadal pulled up lamely as he chased a shot deep into the corner of the court. He immediately turned to his coaches, who were seated on the sidelines of Rod Laver Arena, and then crouched in the corner to catch his breath. He finished the match but struggled with his movements for the rest of the afternoon and later said his disappointment was indescribable.
“I can’t say I’m not mentally devastated this time because I would be lying,” he said at the time.
However, within days, Nadal’s team said he would be able to compete in six to eight weeks, a timeframe that suggested he would most likely miss the hard-court swing in the United States in March and early April, however would be ready if that were the case tour launched their clay court segment in Europe in the spring.
But when those tournaments started, Nadal’s name was missing from the draw, despite pictures he posted on social media from his training sessions. He withdrew from tournaments in Monte Carlo and Barcelona and announced on Thursday that he won’t be able to play in Madrid next week. That leaves the Italian Open in Rome, which begins May 8, as the only major vote available ahead of the French Open. But this tournament also seems doubtful.
“The reality is that the situation is not what we expected,” Nadal said. “All medical indications have been followed but somehow the development has not been as we were initially told and we are in a difficult situation.”
Nadal’s current struggles are the latest in an 18-month battle with injuries that have plagued the twilight of his career. Initially, he was able to overcome them and play some of his most amazing tennis matches.
He came back from a flare-up of his chronic foot injury in late 2021 to win the Australian Open last year and then recovered from a fractured rib in time to win his 14th French Open.
At Wimbledon, however, a torn abdominal muscle forced him to sit out his semi-final match against Nick Kyrgios and miss much of the summer. He returned for the US Open but was far from 100 percent, losing to Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round. Then came the psoas muscle tear in Australia.
Injuries to the psoas, even minor strains and less severe tears of muscle fibers, can send pain down the buttocks or shoot down the leg and groin, or even make it difficult to transition from sitting to standing. Competing at the highest level in tennis is something completely different.
Even if Nadal misses the French Open, Djokovic’s quest for his third singles championship there will be quite difficult. To win you’ll likely have to get past Carlos Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spanish sensation who won the US Open last year to become the youngest man to reach No. 1 in the sport. Like Nadal, Alcaraz grew up on red clay in Spain.
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