Pulling out at Indian Wells, Rafael Nadal “I cannot deceive thousands of fans and myself at the same time.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal is back on the sidelines after withdrawing from Indian Wells, just a few days after making his tennis court comeback in an exhibition match against Carlos Alcaraz. “I can’t lie to myself and to the thousands of fans,” the Spaniard declared. Nadal may now miss the hard-court Miami Open as well. In the past 12 months, he has only participated in three competitive matches.
Acknowledging that he is not “ready to play at the highest level at such an important event,” Rafael Nadal withdrew from Indian Wells.
Last week, the Spaniard—who has defeated Carlos Alcaraz three times in California—participated in an exhibition match in Las Vegas.
Nearly a year has passed since his last competitive match, which took place at the 2023 Australian Open due to a problematic hip issue, and he last participated in the Brisbane International in January.
“I’LL TRY MY BEST,” Nadal said as she “strove” to be ready for the start of the clay season.
The 37-year-old Rafael Nadal posted on social media, “It is with great sadness that I have to withdraw from this amazing tournament at Indian Wells.”
“Everyone is aware of my passion for this location and my enjoyment of playing here. That’s also one of the reasons I arrived in the desert early in order to prepare and practice.”You are all aware that I took a test this past weekend [against Alcaraz], but despite my best efforts and preparation, I don’t think I’m ready to play at the very best at such a significant occasion.”I can’t lie to myself or the thousands of supporters and say, “I will miss you all and I am sure the tournament will be a great success.” It’s not an easy decision—quite the contrary.
After being away from the game for almost a year, Rafael Nadal made his comeback in Brisbane, winning two games before falling to Jordan Thompson.
After that, he withdrew from the Australian Open because of a different muscle ailment.
He claimed that his preparation for Indian Wells had been “bad” and that his only goal was to pass “unscathed”.
He trained at the competition this week and was scheduled to play in a thrilling first-round match against former world No. 3 Milos Raonic.
Now that lucky loser Sumit Nagal will be Nadal’s replacement in the field, he may also skip this month’s hard-court Miami Open in favor of concentrating on the clay season.
His next objective could be the Monte Carlo Masters in early April, which would prepare him for the French Open, which begins on May 20.
Another venue for the Paris Olympics is Roland-Garros, the site of 14 of Rafael Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam victories.
