Reigning champion Rafael Nadal is expected to miss the French Open for the first time in 19 years due to injury, The Sun reports.
The Spaniard – who celebrates his 37th birthday next month – is the King of Roland Garros, having won a record 14 singles championships there.
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Yet he has not played competitive tennis since losing to American Mackenzie McDonald in the Australian Open second round.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion suffered a grade 2 tear in his iliopsoas muscle – the main flexor of the hip joint – triggering his Melbourne exit in January.
It was initially expected he would only be sidelined for six to eight weeks but the issue has stubbornly refused to heal quickly.
Nadal has had to miss playing major tournaments in Doha, Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and this week’s Italian Open in Rome.
In a social media video posted in April, Nadal revealed his team were searching for alternative treatment in a race against time to be fit for an appearance on court in the French capital.
He has now called a press conference for Friday morning AEDT at his Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain, where it is expected he will announce his decision to skip an event that he has dominated like no other sportsperson.
The French Open is set to begin on Monday, May 29 but the draw for the tournament will take place on Friday May 26 AEDT.
A men’s competition without the presence of Nadal for just the second time would be a significant boost for Serbian Novak Djokovic – who is chasing a record 23rd Slam – and incoming world No1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.
Nadal missed most of the clay-court season in 2004, including that year’s French Open, with a stress fracture in his left ankle.
Yet the following season, two days after his 19th birthday, he won the tournament on his debut, beating Argentinian Mariano Puerta in the final on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
His record on the Parisian grounds is astonishing – he has only lost three times in 115 matches and thrashed Casper Ruud in last year’s final – though he did withdraw from the 2016 third round with a broken left wrist.
Friday’s press conference may also shed some light if it is possible for him to return to the scene ahead of Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, July 3.
Nadal reached the SW19 semi-finals in 2022 but pulled out of a semi-final clash with Australian Nick Kyrgios due to a torn abdominal muscle, confirming the news in a press conference.
– This article originally appeared on The Sun and was republished with permission
