(Tennis news) It’s hard to imagine Roland Garros without Rafael Nadal as the Spaniard has ruled himself out of the upcoming Grand Slam due to injury. Nadal had the opportunity to win his 15th men’s singles title at the Roland Garros but will remain on the sidelines and continue to recuperate from a hip flexor injury that has kept him out since January. He announced his fitness issues at a press conference at a press conference at his academy in Manacor on Thursday.

Nadal said “The evolution of the injury I sustained in Australia has not gone as I would have liked. I have lost goals along the way, and Roland Garros becomes impossible. At this moment, I won’t be able to be at Roland Garros. With what that tournament is for me, you can imagine how difficult it is. I have no intention of continuing to play for the next few months. I’ll not establish a date for my return. I’ll see how my body responds and take it from there… if I can come back until the end of the year for the Davis Cup.”

The Spaniard revealed that he will allow his body to recover and that the process could take up to three months, which means he won’t be able to participate at Wimbledon as well. Nadal also confirmed his desire to retire at the end of 2024 but his focus remains to be fit enough to compete in what could be his last year as a professional tennis player. He said “My goal and my ambition is to try and stop and give myself an opportunity to enjoy the next year that will probably be my last year in the professional tour.

“That is my idea but I can’t say 100 percent it will be like this, but my idea and my motivation is to try to enjoy and say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important for me. To enjoy being competitive and something that today is not possible. I believe if I keep going now, I will not be able to make it happen.”

Nadal will go down as one of the most successful tennis players in history. His record at the French Open is unparalleled, winning 123 matches while losing only 3, a staggering feat that has never been achieved in the past and could possibly never be replicated in the future. In a video posted on social media a month ago, Nadal said “Initially it had to be a six-to-eight-week recovery period and we are now on 14.

“The reality is that the situation is not what we would have expected. All medical indications have been followed, but somehow the evolution has not been what they initially told us and we find ourselves in a difficult situation. The weeks are passing and I had the illusion of being able to play in tournaments that are the most important in my career such as Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros. The injury still hasn’t healed and I can’t work out what I need to do to compete. I was training but now we decided to change course a bit, do another treatment and see if things improve to try to get to what comes next.”

Also read: Daniil Medvedev to take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in Italian Open semi-final