1998 Roland Garros
14-time Champion Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the 2023 edition of the French Open due to an injury
Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal from the French Open means that this is the first time that the clay-court Grand Slam won’t feature either of them since 1998. Nadal (14) and Roger Federer (1) share 15 French Open titles between them and their absence from the tournament certainly marks the end of an era. The last time when neither of them featured in the French Open was the 102nd edition in 1998 when Spain’s Carlos Moya was crowned the men’s singles champion.
While Federer retired from the sport at the end of the 2022 season, Nadal will be absent from the tournament due to a recurring injury. He 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.
In a press conference on Thursday, Nadal announced his decision to withdraw from the tournament and also hinted that 2024 could be his last season as a professional player. “Today I’m still in a position that I am not able to feel myself ready to compete at the standards that I need to be [at] to play a Roland Garros. I am not the guy that is going to be at Roland Garros and just try to be there and put myself in a position that I don’t like to be in”, the 14-time French Open Champion said. Nadal has made the Roland Garros his own and the tournament will certainly miss the presence of this legend.
Rafael 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 skip the clay-court season altogether. 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, the Madrid Open and now the French 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.
Meanwhile, the 22-time Grand Slam Champion slipped out of the top 10 of the men’s singles rankings for the first time since 2005 in March because of his absence from multiple events and it just keeps getting worse. Fans are desperate to watch the Spaniard back in action and the withdrawal from the French Open certainly comes across as a big blow. 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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