Nadal: Out Of Roland-Garros, 2024 May Be ‘My Last Year On The Professional Tour’

By Barry Janoff

UPDATED June 3, 2023: AP Sports: Rafael Nadal is expected to need about five months to recover from arthroscopic surgery on his left hip, a timeline that likely would keep him out for the rest of this season.

Nadal’s spokesman, Benito Perez-Barbadillo, said on Saturday — the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s 37th birthday — that two procedures were performed Friday night by a trio of doctors at a clinic in Barcelona. One portion of the operation was for a tendon, the other for an old labrum injury.

“Rafa will begin his progressive functional rehabilitation in a few hours, and the normal recovery process is estimated at five months, always taking into account respecting the biological times of said structure," Perez-Barbadillo said. Full story here.

May 18, 2023: Roger Federer and Serena Williams retired from pro tennis last year.

Now, Rafael Nadal, another tennis icon, is nearing the end of his career.

Short-term, Nadal, who has been dealing with injuries for much of the past two years, said he would not participate at the upcoming Roland-Garros Grand Slam in Paris.

Longer-term, he said that 2024 could likely be his last season on the ATP Tour.

“Three basic messages, that’s why I’m here,” Nadal, speaking and answering questions in both Spanish and English, said today during a media conference in the Rafa Nadal Academy, Mallorca.

“First, I won’t be able to play at Roland-Garros. I wasn’t working as much possible (as I should) the last four or five months. So I need to stop for.a while.

"I don’t know when I’lll be able to come back to the practice court. Maybe a month and a half. Maybe two months. Maybe three or four months. I don’t know. I believe it’s the right thing to do for my body and my personal happiness.

“My goal and my ambition is to try to enjoy myself next year. It is probably going to be my last year on the professional tour. That’s not even 100% because you have no idea. You never know what can happen. My motivation is to try to enjoy and try to say goodbye to all of the tournaments that have been important to me in my tennis career.”

“My goal and my ambition is to try to enjoy myself next year. It is probably going to be my last year on the professional tour."

Nadal, who has 22 Grand Slam titles — currently tied for most on the men’s tour with Novak Djokovic — has not competed since the Australian Open, were he lost to Mackie McDonald in the second round on Jan. 18 due to an injured left hip flexor

He will miss the French Open, which he has won a record 14 times, for the first time since he won his first of a record 14 titles there in his debut in 2005.

“I’m so disappointed for Rafael Nadal, who has had to withdraw from Roland-Garros, his favorite tournament.,” Amélie Mauresmo, Roland-Garros tournament director, said today via the organization.

“I’m also disappointed for the spectators at the Porte d'Auteuil as well as for all tennis fans, who will not get to see this amazing champion in action this year. We will really miss seeing Rafael Nadal, whose destiny is closely linked with that of Roland-Garros after winning the tournament 14 times.

“It’s heart-breaking. We hope that he will be able to recover quickly so that he can get back out onto the tennis courts, and we hope to see him at Roland-Garros next year.”

According to Nadal, “I wasn’t working as much possible (as I should) the last four or five months,” he said during his media conference.

“They have been very difficult months because I haven’t been able to find a solution to the problem that I had in Australia. So today I am still in the position that I am not able to compete at the standards I need to be to play at Roland-Garros. I just (don’t want) to be there and put myself in a position that I don’t like.

“I have been able to win Grand Slams and tournaments over the past couple of years. But the truth is that I was not able to enjoy myself. Since the pandemic, my body was not able to hold (up) under the practices and the body of work in a good way. There were too many problems, too many times I had to stop. I was practicing with too much pain.

“So I need to stop for.a while. I don’t know when I’lll be able to come back to the practice court. Maybe a month and a half. Maybe two months. Maybe three or four months. I don’t know. I believe it’s the right thing to do for my body and my personal happiness.

“My goal and my ambition is to try to enjoy myself next year. It is probably going to be my last year on the professional tour. That’s not even 100% because you have no idea. You never know what can happen. My motivation is to try to enjoy and try to say goodbye to all of the tournaments that have been important to me in my tennis career.

“You can´t keep demanding more and more from your body, because there comes a moment when your body raises a white flag,” said Nadal.

“Even though your head wants to keep going, your body says this is as far it goes.”

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