Nadal pulls out of Roland Garros

A 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal will not compete at the upcoming Roland Garros, withdrawing from his favourite Major for the first time since 2004! Rafa could not recover in time, struggling with a severe hip injury for four months and failing to get injury-free ahead of his beloved tournament.

Nadal should reveal the terrible news at Thursday's press conference, making one of the most challenging decisions of his career! Rafa is a 14-time Roland Garros winner, dominating like no other player before him at Majors and experiencing only three losses from 18 trips to Paris.

Nadal injured his left hip at the Australian Open second round in January, missing eight tournaments and repeating that at Roland Garros despite trying everything to recover. Nadal experienced another blow last Wednesday, ending his practice session at home in Mallorca earlier and struggling with the pain.

Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez were with Rafa when he terminated his training run, and things did not look good for the king of clay ahead of his beloved Major. After dropping out from the top-10 for the first time in almost 18 years, Nadal will leave the top-100 after Roland Garros after spending two decades in the selected group.

The Spaniard will try to recover soon and compete on grass, despite no return dates.

Rafael Nadal will miss his first Roland Garros in 19 years!

Nadal struggled with injuries in 2022 and still conquered the opening two Majors for the first time in a career.

Rafa led the ATP Race and had a great chance to become world no. 1 at 36. Instead, the Spaniard experienced an abdominal tear at Wimbledon, ruining his progress. Nadal withdrew ahead of the semi-final clash with Nick Kyrgios, and we are yet to see him at that level again.

Rafa has played only 13 matches since last August, never finding the rhythm and encountering more disappointments. Nadal made a slow start to the current season and entered the Australian Open with no confidence after two United Cup losses.

He experienced a severe hip injury against Mackenzie McDonald in the second round and lost the title in the worst way. The Spaniard revealed a Grade 2 iliopsoas that should have kept him away from the court for two months. Instead, a 22-time major champion is yet to recover, losing ground and experiencing one of the worst periods of his incredible career.