The Spaniard, still unrecovered from his physical problems, misses the first two Masters 1,000 of the season and points to the clay tour
Rafa Nadal will not participate in Indian Wells or Miami. The Spaniard, who was injured at the last Australian Open, confirmed he will miss the Masters 1,000 double at the start of the season and that his return to the track is scheduled in Monte Carlo, under the cloak of clay.
Nadal, who was due to compete in Dubai this week, was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an iliopsoas injury sustained in the second round in Australia, and has now announced he will also be absent from the United States. In total, he missed four tournaments this season due to an injury.
“Hello everyone. I haven’t communicated with you for a while. I took some time off, I started rehabilitation, gym and physiotherapy, as the doctors told me. I prepared myself to be in the best conditions. Unfortunately I will not be able to participate in Indian Wells and Miami. It makes me very sad not to be there. I will miss my fans in the United States very much, but I hope to see them later on the summer tour,” said Nadal on his social media.
The absence of Nadal in Indian Wells and Miami causes a significant loss of points. The man from Manacor will give up 600 units for his Indian Wells final last year, which, together with the 500 from Acapulco (which he defended this week), makes a total of 1,100 he was unable to defend.
With that, Nadal, the current number 8 in the world, remains at the end of Indian Wells with about 2,700 points, which will practically mean his departure from the ‘top 10’ of the ATP ranking. This is one of the most spectacular records of the career of the Balearic Islands, who entered the top ten in the world in April 2005 and have not left once since. He has spent a total of 910 weeks in this privileged group, something that neither Novak Djokovic nor Roger Federer has been within reach.
Nadal’s comeback, if all goes according to plan, will take place in Monte Carlo (from April 9 to 16), in the first Masters 1,000 of the course on clay. The Spaniard is defending nothing in Monte Carlo, having been unable to attend the Monegasque tournament last season due to the rib he broke in the Indian Wells final. He also does not defend anything in Barcelona and Rome, tournaments in which he did not participate in 2022.
Last year, after a spectacular start to the season with 20 consecutive wins and three titles and one final, Nadal played only in Madrid (quarter-finals) in preparation for Roland Garros, where he won his twenty-second Grand Slam and fourteenth title in the French capital.
Source: La Verdad
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