A dejected Rafael Nadal during 2023 Australian Open
The ATP Madrid Masters is scheduled to take place from April 26 to May 7 – Rafael Nadal will miss out due to his existing hip injury
Rafael Nadal has been forced to withdraw from another tournament and this time it’s the upcoming Madrid Masters. An emotional Nadal took to Twitter to announce his decision and promised his fans that he will update them whenever he has any positive news about his return. The Spaniard is the most successful player in the history of the Madrid Masters with 5 titles to his name and his withdrawal is certainly a huge disappointment for the Tennis-loving fans of Madrid.
Nadal has been out of action with a hip injury since the Australian Open earlier this year. He was expected to make a comeback during the clay-court season but the injury has forced him to withdraw from the initial few clay court events.
The 22-time Grand Slam Champion hasn’t played a match since his second round loss at the Australian Open and subsequently withdrew from prestigious events such as the Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, Barcelona Open and now the Madrid Open. Nadal is patiently waiting for a full recovery before coming back but it’s not certain when he will eventually be able to play.
Nadal has a tear in his left psoas muscle and was initially expected to be back in action within six to eight weeks. However, the wait is only getting prolonged and the Spaniard has himself admitted that it’s uncertain when he’ll be able to make a full fledged comeback. “I can’t give deadlines because if I knew I would tell you but I don’t know. This is how things are now”, Nadal stated in his video update on Twitter.
This latest update has also raised concerns if Nadal will be fit in time for the French Open which is scheduled to start on May 28. The 22-time Grand Slam Champion slipped out of the top 10 of the men’s singles rankings for the first time since 2005 last month and it could get worse if he keeps missing more tournaments. However, it is important that Nadal returns to action only after a complete recovery as a hurried return could very well cause a freak long-term injury and make things more difficult.
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