Rafael Nadal is out longer than previously expected after hip surgery. A return in the coming year is currently only realistic. A doctor reports at the French Open how things will continue.
Rafael Nadal came out of the operating bed with his fist raised. The Spanish tennis star has to postpone his comeback due to the hip surgery, but wants to save the chance of a long-awaited farewell tour next year.
The normal recovery process is now around five months, “if everything goes well,” he wrote on his 37th birthday on social networks and thanked everyone for their good wishes. “Today also on my birthday. Not in the desired and dreamed place, but THANK YOU anyway.”
The 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner had surgery on his injured left hip flexor in Barcelona about two weeks after his cancellation for the French Open. One of his treating doctors reported at the weekend in Paris what Nadal’s path to the pitch should look like. In addition to the left hip flexor, an injury to the joint lip was also repaired. This so-called labrum was not strong enough, said Ángel Ruiz-Cotorro, so the operation was unavoidable.
At first, Nadal only has swimming and cycling, and his team doesn’t want to rush into anything when it comes to the comeback. He had not played a match since the second round at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year. 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.
In addition to the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Olympic Games at Roland Garros, where he won the French Open 14 times, are a highlight on the program next year. “The maximum penalty for such an athlete is not being able to say goodbye on the pitch,” said Eurosport expert Boris Becker on Nadal’s hoped-for last return. “You have to close the book before you can open the next one, that is, your second career. That’s why, as a former athlete, I wish that he can say goodbye to his fans.”