Rafael Nadal is set to confirm whether he will be able to play at this year’s French Open in a press conference that will take place in his native Spain on Thursday afternoon.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has been absent from the Tour since his second round loss at the Australian Open due to a troublesome hip injury that continues to hinder him. Nadal initially hoped that it would take him six to eight weeks to recover from the injury but it has been four months since he last played on the Tour. It is understood that the exact problem he dealing with concerns the psoas muscle which is located between his lower abdomen and upper right leg.
“Despite having noticed an improvement in the last few days, it has been many months since I’ve been able to train at a high level and the adaptation process takes time. All that is left for me to do is accept it and keep working.” Nadal said in a statement earlier this month when announcing his withdrawal from Rome.
In a media bulleting issued by Nadal’s team, it is confirmed that the former world No.1 will hold a press conference at 16:00 CET tomorrow where he will confirm his plans for the immediate future. The announcement coincides with a media report claiming that he will officially be pulling out of the French Open. Journalist Nacho Encabo says his publication, Relevo, has reported that the king of clay continues to be experiencing discomfort and therefore will not be playing in the next Grand Slam. Relevo is a Madrid-based sports publication that is owned by Grupo Vocento whose portfolio includes the national newspaper ABC.
The prospect of Nadal not playing at the French Open would be a huge blow to the tournament. He is the most successful player in Roland Garros’ history with 14 singles titles to his name. Out of 115 matches played, Nadal has incredibly won 112 of them with his losses being to Novak Djokovic twice and Robin Robin Soderling. The last time he missed the French Open was in 2004.
If the 36-year-old is not able to play in Paris, he is set to exit the world’s top 100 for the first time since April 2004. During what has been a record-breaking career, Nadal has won 92 ATP titles and earned more than $134M in prize money. He holds the record for most consecutive weeks in the top 10 (912).
