World No.1 Rafael Nadal will require three weeks rest after an MRI scan diagnosed him with a ‘grade 1’ hip injury following his Australian Open withdrawal.
The Spaniard was forced to pull out of his quarter-final match against Marin Cilic on Tuesday after hurting the upper part of his leg during the third set. It was the first time Nadal had retired from a grand slam match since the 2010 Australian Open. A day on from the disappointment, the ten-time French Open champion underwent a scan. It confirmed that he has injured his illiopsoas. Illiopsoas is a blending of two muscles (the iliacus and psoas major) that run from the lumbar portion of the vertebral column to the femur.
“The MRI showed a grade 1 injury of his Illiopsoas on his right leg.” His management team said in a statement.
“He will be resting the next days once back in Spain and will start with anti inflammatory physiotherapy.
“He will start his rehabilitation and preadaptation process to the tennis court in two weeks, starting progressively his training and practice.”
Leading into the new season, Nadal has also been troubled by a knee problem, which forced him to withdraw from the ATP Finals last November. In his press conference on Tuesday, the injury-prone player urged officials to review the tour structure. In recent months there has been a series of injuries hitting high-profile players such as Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori.
“It’s not the right moment to say for me, but somebody who is running the tour should think a little bit about what’s going on,” Nadal told reporters. “Too many people getting injured.”
“There is life after tennis, so I don’t know if we keep playing in these very, very hard surfaces, what is going to happen in the future with our lives,” he later added. .
It is expected that the injury will not disrupt the schedule of the world No.1. He is set to return to action at the Mexican Open in Acapulco. An event where Nadal finished runner-up last year. The tournament will get underway in the last week of February ahead of the two crucial Masters 1000 events in America (Indian Wells and Miami).
