Rafael Nadal leaves the Indian Wells tournament. That competition would have been his first since January.
File: On Tuesday, January 2, 2024, in Brisbane, Australia, at the Brisbane International Tennis Tournament, Rafael Nadal of Spain waves to the spectators during his play against Dominic Thiem of Austria.
On Wednesday night, March 6, 2024, Rafael Nadal withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open, one day ahead of his scheduled first-ever match in two months.
22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal announced the news on social media, stating that he was doing it “with great sadness.” (Tertius Pickard, File/AP Photo)
California’s Indian Wells (AP) The night of Wednesday, Rafael Nadal withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open, one day ahead of his scheduled first-ever match in two months.
22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal announced the news on social media, stating that he was doing it “with great sadness.
In a statement issued by the competition, Rafael Nadal said, “It is not an easy decision; it’s a tough one as a matter of fact, but I can’t lie to myself and lie to the thousands of fans.”
The 37-year-old Spanish player had surgery to repair a hip ailment that had kept him out of action for almost the entire previous season.
He then made a brief comeback to the field for three games in early January before rupturing a hip muscle. He was compelled to skip the Australian Open as a result, and he hasn’t played on tour since.
Well, in advance of the hard-court competition, Rafael Nadal traveled to the California desert to get ready for what he has hinted may be his last year as a professional.
Before returning to Indian Wells, he traveled to Las Vegas, where on Sunday he competed in an exhibition match against Carlos Alcaraz.
The world will have to wait to see when it will next get to watch Rafael Nadal perform. He was supposed to play 2016 Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic in the first round on Thursday night. Sumit Nagal, who fell in qualifying, got the vacant position in the bracket.
“You all know I took a test this weekend, and I have been working hard and preparing, but I don’t find myself ready to play at the highest level at such a big event,” Nadal stated.
He has achieved nearly every tennis dream, including winning all of the major titles, Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles, 92 tour-level singles titles, over 1,000 match victories, and over $130 million in prize money—not to mention endorsements.
But ever since he injured his hip flexor in a 2023 Australian Open second-round match, Rafael Nadal has made it clear he is not prepared to give up on the game he co-dominated for extended periods of time with rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
He has expressed a special desire to play at his home French Open, where he has won a record 14 times, as well as to make one final appearance at the Summer Games, which are being held in Paris this year with tennis hosted by Roland Garros.
