The French Open has responded after Rafael Nadal issued a concerning injury update, sparking fears that he could miss the tournament. The clay-court Major is now just 38 days away and the 14-time champion has changed his treatment after failing to see the intended progress of his existing rehab programme.
Nadal provided fans with a lengthy update on his continued injury layoff on Thursday, pulling out of the Madrid Masters while admitting that he “can’t work [out]” what he needs to do to recover. The 36-year-old injured his psoas at the Australian Open and was initially given a six-to-eight-week recovery timeframe.
But now on week 14, the Spaniard has found himself continuing to pull out of tournaments and delay his comeback after initially being under the impression that he could play a full clay season. With his latest update now raising major question marks about his participation at the French Open, the tournament has responded.
“Take care, Rafa,” the Roland Garros Instagram account commented, adding an orange heart. It comes after tournament director Amelie Mauresmo and French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton visited his Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca last month.
The pair were there to present his academy with a replica of the Nadal statue currently on the Roland Garros grounds. And during their visit, the former world No 1 shared his desire to play this year’s French Open despite his injury woes.
“I really hope to see you again this year at Roland Garros, and I’ll try to be competitive,” he told Mauresmo and Moretton. “You know how much Roland Garros and this place mean to me. Having you here is a very special moment, and I can’t thank you enough for coming, along with some of the staff with whom I am very close at Roland Garros.”
Nadal is the defending champion at the French Open as he also battled through an injury to win his 14th title last year. The Spaniard was having trouble with his ongoing foot issue ahead of the tournament and after winning, revealed that he had been playing by using foot-numbing injections.
“We chose to inject the nerve at a distance, which was good. We would never have gotten to this point if we had not done that,” he said after winning a record 22nd men’s singles Grand Slam title. Novak Djokovic has since caught up to him, winning his 21st at Wimbledon and his 22nd in Australia.
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