The list of tournaments missed by Rafael Nadal continues to grow, and with it concern regarding his potential contention–or even participation–at Roland Garros.
Nadal, who had already skipped his typical clay-court stops in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, announced his withdrawal from the upcoming Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday. The 36-year-old Spaniard has not played since the Australian Open, where he was hampered by a rib injury and lost to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round.
“The last few weeks and months have been difficult,” Nadal said via video. “As you know, I picked up a significant injury in Australia. First it was going to be a six-to-eight-week recovery period. We’re in the 14th week and the reality is that the situation is not what we expected.
“In any case, I have followed the medical advice but the progress has not been as they told us at the beginning. We find ourselves in a difficult situation, the weeks are passing by. I was excited to play in the most important tournaments in my career such as Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros. So far I’ve missed Monte-Carlo and Barcelona and I also wanted to tell you that I won’t be able to be in Madrid.
“Unfortunately, the injury has still not healed and I can’t work on what I need to in order to compete. I was training, but a few days ago we decided to change course, try another treatment, and see if things improve to try and be ready for what is to come. I can’t specify time periods because if I knew them I would tell you. But I don’t know.”
At most Nadal will have just one warmup event prior to the French Open–the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, which follows Madrid as the third of three clay-court Masters 1000s.
now it’s getting worrisome
Very. To say the least. He is almost certainly not playing Rome and there have to be ? as to whether he will play RG.
Is 37 soon and this situation feels very serious.
I don’t understand how the protected ranking system works. Can he keep points from some tournaments?
He is probably going to be out of the top 16 by Rg.
Will fall like a stone in the rankings if he can’t play it.