Rafael Nadal announced in a presser today that he won’t play at French Open this year because he couldn’t recover from his injury sustained at Australian Open. The 14-time Roland Garros winner will also be absent from the 2023 season. He claimed he couldn’t recover in time from his injury. “I will not be able play at Roland Garros.” My body made this decision. “I won’t play for the next couple of months,” he stated.
“My motivation is that I want to enjoy all the tournaments and then say goodbye to them. My goal is to stop and enjoy the next year. This is probably my last season on tour. Nadal announced that the 2024 season would likely be his last. He confirmed he would be participating in the Paris Olympics of 2024.
Rafael Nadal: I will not be playing at Roland Garros only to win.
“I worked as hard as I could every day for four months. They were very difficult months as we couldn’t find a solution to my problems in Australia. I’m not in a place where I can compete to the level I need to for Roland Garros. I’m not the kind of guy who goes to Roland Garros only to play. Nadal stated that despite the fact that my results were positive, as I won a few grand slams or important tournaments in recent years, I wasn’t able enjoy my diary.
“Since the pandemic my body has not been able do practice or diary work well. I have not been able enjoy practice and competition due to too many problems. Too many times, I had to stop because of physical conditions and took too many days of rest because of pain. I have to take a break. My position is that I need to stop, and I do not know when I will be able to return to the practice court.
“I’ll stop for a little while, maybe a month, perhaps two months, or maybe three months.” I’m not a man who likes to make predictions about the future. I do what I think is right for my health and happiness. I don’t like to say one thing while doing the opposite. It’s better to keep the options open, and then decide what the best calendar is for next year. I want to play what is important to me, and the Olympic Games are a competition I am looking forward to playing. Will this be my last competition or not? Nadal did not say ,” I can’t say.
