Rafael Nadal admitted he is staring at the end of his tennis career after announcing he will miss the French Open and the majority of the season ahead of what he expects to be a farewell tour in 2024.
The 22-time grand-slam champion has not played since his second-round exit at the Australian Open in January.
Nadal struggled with a hip injury during the straight-sets defeat to Mackenzie McDonald and the ongoing issue has failed to recover sufficiently in order for the 36-year-old to chase a 15th title at Roland Garros.
It means the Spaniard, who has only lost three matches on the Parisian clay, will miss the tournament for the first time since 2004 but he admitted during a press conference at his academy in Manacor that it feels the only option.
The 14-time French Open champion now plans to rest for the coming months with the aim to recover so he can play at “important tournaments” in 2024 during what will be his final year on the ATP Tour.
“My goal and my ambition is to try and stop and give myself an opportunity to enjoy the next year that will probably be my last year in the professional tour,” Nadal told reporters.
“That is my idea but I can’t say 100 per cent it will be like this, but my idea and my motivation is to try to enjoy and say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important for me.
“To enjoy being competitive and something that today is not possible. I believe, if I keep going now, I will not be able to make it happen.”
On next week’s French Open, Nadal explained: “First thing, I’m not going to be able to play in Roland Garros.
“I was even working as much as possible every single day for the last four months, they have been very difficult months because we were not able to find a solution to the problems I had in Australia.
“Today I’m still in a position where I am not able to feel myself ready to compete at the standards I need to be to play Roland Garros.
“I am not the guy who will be at Roland Garros just to play.”
Nadal claimed brilliant victories at the Australian Open and French Open last year but was fighting his body, with a chronic foot problem, fractured rib and an abdominal strain that forced him out of Wimbledon keeping him off the court for spells prior to this latest injury.
His withdrawal from the French Open had appeared increasingly inevitable but the news he will also sit out Wimbledon, and almost certainly the US Open as well, is a major blow to the sport, which must now prepare to say goodbye to the Spaniard having seen his great rival Roger Federer bow out last autumn.
Nadal suggested he might try to turn out for Spain at the Davis Cup later this year, while a major target in 2024 will be the Olympic Games in Paris, with the tennis events being played at Roland Garros next summer.
“After a couple of years that in terms of results have been positive because I was able to win a couple of grand slams and important tournaments, the real situation is I was not able to enjoy my diary work,” Nadal said.
“Since after the pandemic, my body was not able to do the practice or diary work in a good way so I was not able to enjoy the practice and competition because too many problems, too many times having to stop for physical conditions and too many days off not practising because of too much pain.
“I need to stop for a while. My position is to stop and I don’t know when I can come back to the practice court.
“I will stop for a while, maybe one month, maybe two months, maybe three months. I am a guy who doesn’t like to predict too much the future. I am following what I believe is the right thing to do for my body and my personal happiness.
“I don’t want to say one thing and do the other. It is better to hold the options open and see what is the best calendar possible.
“I would like to play the things that are important for me and of course the Olympic Games is an important competition and one I hope to play. Will it be my last or not? I cannot say.”
Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who will be the top seed for the French Open, sent his best wishes on Twitter, saying: “Good luck Rafael! Very painful and sad for everyone that you can’t be at Roland Garros or play more this year, but I hope that 2024 will be a great season for you and that you can say goodbye like the great champion you are.”
Alcaraz will now lead the favourites at Roland Garros along with Novak Djokovic, who can claim the outright men’s record for slam singles titles if he wins a 23rd.
Speaking on Amazon Prime Video, former British number one Tim Henman said: “I think the real positive is that he is prepared to give it one last effort, and that’s what Rafa’s always been about, giving 100 per cent to everything he’s doing.
“And fingers crossed he can find that physical wellbeing to be back out on tour. If 2024 is his last year then I really hope that he can enjoy it and I hope we can enjoy it and the fans can enjoy it because he deserves that send-off.”
Jabeur into Madrid Open quarter-finals with statement win over Ostapenko
Ons Jabeur cruised into the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Monday, spending just over an hour on court in a statement 6-0 6-4 win over ninth seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Jabeur, who won her first and so far only WTA 1000 title in Madrid in 2022 then missed last year's tournament through injury, made it nine wins in a row in the Spanish capital to book a last-eight meeting with either Coco Gauff or Madison Keys.
Eighth seed Jabeur only needed 68 minutes to see off the former French Open champion, not dropping a game in a 21-minute opener in which she won 88 per cent of first-serve points.
Ostapenko improved in the second set, breaking back immediately after losing serve in the opening game, but Jabeur got the crucial break to go 5-4 up before serving the contest out.
Data Debrief: Jabeur dominates on the clay
Jabeur's win sealed her third quarter-final appearance at a WTA 1000-level event on clay since 2020. Only world number one Iga Swiatek (four) has reached more during that span.
A dominant start did the trick for the Tunisian on Monday, as she became the first player to take an opening set 6-0 against a top-10 ranked player in Madrid since the 2021 final, when Aryna Sabalenka did so in her victory over Ashleigh Barty.
Alcaraz's pursuit for third straight Madrid Open crown continues
Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.
Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.
The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.
Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Data Debrief
With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.
Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.
Sabalenka goes the distance again to progress at Madrid Open
Aryna Sabalenka was forced to go the distance again at the Madrid Open as she battled past Robin Montgomery on Sunday.
Sabalenka, the reigning Madrid Open champion, needed three sets to win her second-round tie against Magda Linette on Friday, and the second seed did not have an easy ride against American Montgomery.
However, she eventually got over the line, triumphing 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 to tee up a last-16 meeting with Danielle Collins, who defeated Jaqueline Cristian 3-6 6-4 6-1.
Collins has now reeled off 15 straight wins, having won the Miami Open and Charleston Open in recent weeks, and has progressed to the last 16 in Madrid for the first time in her career.
The American said: "I've been doing so well the last couple of weeks, I think the girls know that when they come out and play me, they've got to go for it.
"That certainly was taking place the last two matches, some big shots that I've had to counter, and be able to react quickly."
Data Debrief: Sabalenka up there with Serena
Sabalenka has now won 14 of her 17 matches at the Madrid Open, which she won in 2023 and 2021.
Since the inception of the tournament, only Serena Williams (15) has won more of her first 17 matches at the event.
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