“Don’t know if I will return,” Rafael Nadal raises doubts over participation in Clay court tournaments this season

Rafael Nadal is trying to recover from a nasty hip injury which resurfaced during the second-round of the Australian Open 2023. This injury saw him reel under intense pain and be knocked out of the tournament. Since then he has not played even a single match.

His fans wanted to see him back on the world stage. However, in a recent interaction with media and fans at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, he did not confirm that he will play in the clay court tournaments this season, starting from Monte-Carlo Masters.

“You have to have a little patience . I am not going to say that I can return in a specific tournament. The idea is to be at the top at Roland Garros. I am still recovering from Australia. I had a fairly major breakdown there, unfortunately, and it’s taking time. I am doing as much work as I can every day to try to recover in the best possible way. And then we’ll see; day by day,”  he said.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion also elaborated on his injury.

“I hurt my muscle, I tore my tendon a bit in a very complicated place, the psoas, because in tennis we get strength from there. It is a slower evolution than we would like, but there is no choice but to be a little patient. I am no longer 20 years old and the calendar is passing. When you’ve been like mine for a year, you get tired. I train 15 or 20 minutes a day at the Academy so that my arm doesn’t degenerate. I don’t know if I will return in Monte Carlo, in Barcelona or in Madrid. But when I am, I want to play and I will be there when I can immediately,” he continued.

However, everybody expects Rafael Nadal to return to Roland Garros this season. He has won this title 14 times in his career and would love to do it for the 15th time.

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Can Rafael Nadal win another French Open title?

The 36-year old is trying to prolong his illustrious career; however, his list of injuries is also getting longer. Last season, he won the 2022 Australian Open and French Open men’s singles titles. However, fitness issues during Wimbledon 2022, rocked his season. He had to withdraw from the semi-final match against Nick Kyrgios because he was not fit enough to play. He also struggled during the US Open and for the rest of the season.

Although, Rafael Nadal is struggling to get back to peak form and fitness levels, he still is being counted as the favorite to win French Open this season. Mary Joe Fernandez won the 1996 French Open doubles title. She thinks that there is a transformational change in the Spaniard when he walks on the clay court.

“If Rafa is healthy, I’m still gonna say Rafa. Someone who wins a tournament fourteen times, to me, is the favorite every time they play. Even if they haven’t played all year. So, he becomes a different player on the clay, becomes a different player at the French Open, best of five. That’s the one tournament where I still feel like its gonna be Rafa,”  she said in Patrick McEnroe‘s podcast.

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