French Open 2023: Fanatics dejected as Rafael Nadal pulls out; hints at 2024 being his final season

It will be a gloomy 2023 French Open for some tennis lovers, as defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain has pulled out of the clay-court Grand Slam. He announced his decision on Thursday, besides stating that he might be taking an extended break from the sport for the rest of the season before returning next season, which he hinted at possibly being his last season on the circuit.

“I worked as much as possible daily for the last four months. It has been tough months because we could not solve my problem in Australia. I’m still in a position where I cannot feel ready to compete at the standards I need to be [at] to play a Roland Garros. I am not the guy that will be at Roland Garros and try to be there and put myself in a position that I don’t like to be [in],” said Nadal at his Rafa Nadal Academy.

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“Since the pandemic, my body could not hold the practices and the daily work well. So, I could not enjoy the practices and the competition because [there were] too many problems, too many times having to stop for physical issues and too many days of going here practising but with too much pain,” added Nadal.

“So, after I said that, I need to stop. I need to stop for a while. So, I decide to stop. I don’t know when I can return to the practice court, but I will stop for a while. Two months, maybe one month and a half, three months, maybe four months,” he continued.

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“I don’t know, I am not the guy who likes to predict a lot the future, so I’m just following my personal feelings and just following what I really believe is the right thing to do for my body and my happiness now,” asserted Nadal, as he is yet to play competitive tennis since the Australian Open earlier this year.

As he opened up on 2024 might be his last season, Nadal expressed, “I can’t say 100 per cent that [it is] going to be like this because you never know what can happen. But, my idea and my motivation are [to] try to enjoy and try to say goodbye [to] all the tournaments that have been important for me in my tennis career during [next] year and try to enjoy that, being competitive and enjoying being on the court.”

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“[That is] something that today is not possible. If I keep going now, I cannot make that happen. I don’t know if I stop if I will be able to make that happen, but I think the chances are much higher if I stop. Of course [in] the tournament [there are] going to be super interesting matches that I will be happy to follow, and my speech [is not] going to change now [from] a couple of years ago when Novak didn’t play in Australia,” he added.

“Tournaments stay forever. Players play and leave so that Roland Garros will always be Roland Garros, with or without me, without a doubt. The tournament will keep being the best event in the world of clay, and there will be one Roland Garros champion. It’s not going to be me, [there is] going to be another one, and that’s life,” concluded the 22-time Slam champion.