Ahead of the French Open, Rafael Nadal has given a significant update regarding his hip issue. The Spaniard will play two clay courts to urnaments in quick succession.
Nadal, who was forced to miss nearly the whole 2023 season because of injury, discovered his most recent issue at the Brisbane International in January. He had intended to comeback at the Qatar Open in February, but he was not well enough to play.
The 37-year-old then attempted to make a return in Indian Wells in March, but he was forced to withdraw due to injury once more, stoking rumors that he was about to retire.
Nadal has previously stated that 2024 will probably be his last year of competition before he hangs up his racket to join fellow legend Roger Federer.
Since then, Rafael Nadal has hinted that he might not be healthy enough to play all of 2024.
If the “King of Clay” is deemed unfit to compete in his favorite French Open, which begins in late May, John McEnroe believes he may decide to end his career.
Nadal hopes to participate in the renowned clay-court tournament one final time before retiring. He has won a record 14 men’s singles titles at the Grand Slam event.
His participation in two clay-court tournaments prior to the start of the action at Roland-Garros has already been announced.
After making his competitive comeback at the Monte Carlo Masters, which takes place from April 8–14, Rafael Nadal will head straight to Spain for the Barcelona Open.
Speaking prior to the start of the clay-court season, Rafael Nadal declared: “I am working toward and hoping to achieve my goal of trying to start the clay season.”
But since it has been hard for me to forecast the future lately, I don’t dare speculate about what might occur.
I haven’t given up on my training at all. I’m always attempting. I just haven’t been able to stick to the routine I would have liked to. I feel fine. As you might imagine, I can’t say because I don’t know myself, but perhaps things can change.
I’m a realist, so it doesn’t matter if I’m hopeful or not. I’ve been unable to compete for the past year and a half or so, so my first goal is to attempt, and I’m making progress every day.
If I had to choose between being positive or negative, I doubt I would have bothered. I’ve had a very lengthy career; I’m extremely elderly, and it’s been a long time.
In the end, I strive not to be either one of these things. Instead, I attempt to live each day as it comes, put in the effort necessary to create possibilities for myself, and we’ll see how long we can last.
The truth is that, given my limited prior training experience, I didn’t feel prepared to begin competing in a competition at this level.
“I didn’t want to start a tournament from my starting point, as there was no assurance that I would be able to get to the minimum standards that I believe I should demand of myself in order to try to start a tournament.”
