Rafael Nadal announces withdrawal from French Open 2023, to take 2-3 months break from tennis

22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal confirmed in a press conference on Thursday, May 18 that he would not defend his title at French Open 2023.

Nadal said it was impossible for him to be ready after battling with a hip injury over the last 4 months.

“Not going to be able to play at Roland Garros. I was working as much as possible but the last four months have been very difficult ones because I could not find solutions to the problems I faced in Australia. I am not the guy who is going to be at Roland Garros and be in the position that I could be in,” Nadal said on Thursday.

Nadal also said he is not sure when he would be able to return to professional tennis, hinting at an extended break which would also see him miss the Wimbledon and probably the US Open.

“I need to stop for a while and my decision is to stop. I don’t know when I will be able to come back to the practice court.. maybe 2 months, maybe 4 months.. I am just doing what I think is the right thing to do for my body and my personal happiness,” Nadal added.

Nadal, who has dealt with some of the most threatening injuries in the past, tried his best to recover from a hip injury that he picked up at the Australian Open. However, he missed all three clay-court Masters 1000 tournaments, including Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, stressing a delay in recovery.

Nadal also said he is looking to end his professional career in 2024 while not revealing whether next year’s Roland Garros would be his swansong.

Rafael Nadal is arguably one of the greatest-ever players to have played the sport, having won 22 Grand Slam titles in a celebrated career that has spanned close to 2 decades at the highest level. Apart from a record number of Grand Slam crowns in men’s singles, Nadal also has won the Olympic singles Gold in 2008 and doubles gold with Marc Lopez in 2016.

Nadal had not missed a single French Open competition since winning his maiden title at the clay-court Grand Slam in his maiden appearance in 2005. Nadal has gone on to win a record-extending 14 titles at French Open, the most by any player at a single Grand Slam in tennis history.

Nadal, however, has not played on the tour since his shocking second-round exit at the Australian Open in January. The 36-year-old lost to Mackenzie McDonald after struggling with a hip injury during the match. Nadal was lauded for his determination to not retire midway during the match and complete it as he showcased the never-say-die attitude that propelled the boy Mallorca to tennis greatness.

Nadal has been sidelined since and the Spaniard missed the major part of the first half of the season. An MRI exam the next day revealed the extent of the injury, and Perez-Barbadillo said at the time that Nadal was expected to need up to two months to fully recover.

Nadal missing the French Open would resonate big time in the tennis community as he is the undisputed King of Clay.

He is 112-3 across 18 appearances there, a level of dominance unmatched by any man or woman at any Grand Slam event in the long annals of a sport that dates to the 1800s. When Nadal won the trophy in Paris last year at age 36 while dealing with chronic foot pain, he became the oldest champion in tournament history.

Nadal is just 1-3 this season. He has dropped seven of his past nine matches overall, dating to a fourth-round loss to Frances Tiafoe in the U.S. Open’s fourth round last September.