Tennis
Rafael Nadal Missing French Open & Plotting Retirement For 2024
by privatebet.com - 2023/05/19
After pulling out of several clay tournaments this season, Rafael Nadal officially announced he won’t be playing at the French Open. He’ll miss the tournament for the first time in almost a decade with a hip injury and he’ll most likely retire by the end of 2024. Nadal said that the evolution of his injury made it impossible to compete at Roland Garros, adding that he didn’t make this decision, but his body did. This will mark the first time in 19 years that the 14-time French Open champion will miss his favorite Grand Slam. In addition to pulling out of Roland Garros, Nadal also announced that the next season will probably be his last, but it’s still too early to establish the date of his return. "I don't know if I'll be able to come back in the highest level and compete for Grand Slams. What I will try to do is to give myself the opportunity to go back to what could be my final year competing at the highest level," said Nadal. The 22-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t played a professional match since suffering a hip injury at the Australian Open this winter. He missed the entire clay court season and fell out of the top ten for the first time since 2005 in the wake of this injury.