Image: APA/AFP/MANAN VATSYAYANA
According to media reports, the 22-time Grand Slam winner is to announce his withdrawal from the second major of the year, which begins on May 28, at a press conference in his tennis academy in Mallorca today, Thursday. Nadal had won his favorite tournament on clay in Paris 14 times last year despite chronic foot pain.
In Roland Garros, the clay court king has a unique record of 112:3 wins in 18 participations. If the cancellation is confirmed, Lower Austria’s Dominic Thiem will slip into the main competition.
According to the Spanish media, the 36-year-old, who has constantly had to deal with injuries in recent years and was only able to play fit, will not announce the end of his career. His manager Benito Perez-Barbadillo said Nadal will speak to the media ‘about his participation in Roland Garros’ on Thursday. According to the Spanish sports newspaper “AS”, Nadal will not play a match this year. Rather, he wants to prepare himself completely for the coming year, in which he then wants to end his career. His goals: The second Olympic gold and his 15th title at the French Open.
Nadal has been plagued by hip pain since his second-round exit at the Australian Open in January. In Melbourne he suffered a tear in his hip flexor. That’s why he had to cancel the tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome. The former world number one has only played four games this season. He lost seven of his last nine matches. “We are in a difficult situation,” Nadal said a few days ago.
Nadal, currently 14th in the world rankings, will lose the 2,000 points for last year’s win, meaning he will slip to 120th in the new world rankings after the end of the French Open (June 12). This would mean that Nadal would not be in the top 100 for the first time since March 24, 2003.
Source: Nachrichten
