Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal is expected to be out for around five months after hip surgery. He announced this via Twitter.
The 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner had surgery on his injured left hip flexor in Barcelona on Friday about two weeks after his cancellation for the French Open. The procedure went well, and an injury to the articular lip had also been repaired, he said.
He will start rehab immediately, the normal recovery process is five months, “if everything goes right”, he wrote and thanked for all the good wishes. “Today also on my birthday. Not in the desired and dreamed place, but THANK YOU anyway.”
Nadal wants to end his career in 2024
Nadal has not played a match since the second round at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year. Most recently he had canceled for the classic clay court in Paris and announced a longer break. He wants to end his career next year and once again compete in the tournaments that mean the most to him.
With the forecast downtime, participation in the Australian Open, which he has won twice, in January 2024 would not be ruled out.