It had slipped for the past few hours and Rafael Nadal He confirmed it this Thursday. In his land, at his academy facilities in Manacor, the Balearic star announced his absence at Roland Garros, his beloved Grand Slam that will begin on May 28 in Paris. Not only that. The former number one will stop for the next few months and he announced that 2024 will be his last year as a professional. “This decision is not made by me but by my body,” explained the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
The injury suffered four months ago in Australia, on February 18, has not evolved as the Balearic tennis player despite his efforts. “My day to day has been at a very low level in recent months. Looking abroad, there are always victories, good moments, but on a personal level the last few years after the pandemic have been very complicated,” he assured.
Disconnect completely
“Point and separate”, assured Nadal. “When I feel ready, I’m going to start over, even if it’s from scratch,” he said, sitting on a stool in front of a hundred journalists. “You cannot always be demanding more and more always. There is a moment when the body takes out the flag and says up to here& rdquor ;, he accepted with resignation.
Made the difficult decision, Nadal wants “Disconnect completely, it will be good for us & rdquor;. Forget the racket for a while. Understand why he has not recovered from the injury in Australia. The decision announced by the former world number 1 had been ruminating on it for weeks and before making it he listened to all the members of his team, his family and his environment. “They have been by my side helping me and there is nothing to reproach themselves with, but things could not be allowed to degenerate further & rdquor ;, he insisted.
regenerate the body
The tennis player highlighted the injury problems that he has suffered in recent years. “I have been chaining injury after injury. When one cannot do a part of his life with happiness, he moves to the personal issue. It has been difficult for me to have continuity due to the physique, although the victories could mean something else, “he said.
His big goal now will be “regenerate my body“. He did not want to set a return date. He would be excited to play the Davis Cup at the end of the year, “whenever the captain deems it appropriate,” he revealed. But his great obsession is in 2024. “I want to face next year in what I intuit will be my last year of my sports career with the guarantees of being able to enjoy it. I want to give myself this opportunity, that is not a troupe. Go back to the professional circuit and play the tournaments that I feel like.”
Nadal wants the best epilogue to say goodbye to his career, the best for a Spanish athlete and one of the best in world history. “I don’t deserve to end like this, in a press conference. It is worth making an extra effort. That is my philosophy and I will fight to achieve it. I want the final fireworks to be worth it. If my body responds to me, I have faith to do something worth the effort. I would like to be able to finish well on a track, competing and fighting. If it is viable or not we will see it tomorrow.”
an ominous season
Nadal has only been able to play four games this season since he lost in Melbourne to Mkenzie McDonald, in the second round. Now he will miss the Parisian event after 17 consecutive participations. It will be the ninth tournament that he has not been absent before in Doha, Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.
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Close to turning 37, the drop in Paris will mean the loss of 2,000 points for the title last year. He will stay in the ranking at 445, falling out of the top 100 for the first time in two decades.