No more speculation! Nadal will miss the French Open. The Spaniard also revealed his other plans

This topic has been in the air for a long time. Will this year’s Roland Garros include the 14-time champion? Now the plans of the clay king are clear. We won’t see Rafael Nadal at the French Open. At least at this year’s event.

Rafael Nadal has been off the ATP circuit since this year’s Australian Open. His health problems were originally supposed to deprive him of a few weeks on the circuit. But everything turned out to be more complicated.

The clay portion of the season has begun and Nadal still hasn’t returned to the tournament circuit. After his non-participation in the Masters events in Madrid and Rome, the likelihood that the winner of 22 Grand Slams would not start at the French Open was growing.

Another negative signal was when the Mallorca native also turned down a wild card offer for the Bordeaux Challenger less than a week ago. The latter was timed perfectly to get into match shape before the peak of the clay court season in Paris, which starts on May 28.

Thursday’s press conference

After Thursday’s press conference, the jury is out. The 2023 French Open really must do without the 36-year-old tennis player. Nadal doesn’t feel he is in a condition to play at the level he would need to at the second Grand Slam of the season. “I’m not a guy who’s coming to Roland Garros just to give it a shot,” he said.

The upcoming event has lost one of its potential favourites. Novak Djokovic suddenly has a chance to stand alone in the historic standings of Grand Slam winners. He now shares the lead with Rafa. Both have won the most prestigious tournaments 22 times.

Other plans

Rafael Nadal also revealed his future plans. He wants to rest for some time. He did not specify the length of the rest. Anyway, he plans to return later this year. In this context, he talked about the Davis Cup. The final part of this team event is on the schedule in mid-September.

What’s next? You can’t stop time and the Spanish tennis player knows it. “My ambition is to try to enjoy next year, which will probably be the last year of my professional career,” he revealed his preliminary plans for 2024. He would like to say goodbye to all the great tennis events where he has achieved so much in his career.

Source: Eurosport