Rafa Nadal today announced his great final decision

Rafael Nadal He has an appointment this Thursday (4:00 pm) with the media at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor. According to his team, “whether or not he will play at Roland Garros will be said later, as well as the reasons why he decides on one thing or another.”

The call and everything that has been happening since suffering the injury in mid-January, in the second round of the Australian Open, invites us to think that the fourteen-time Musketeers Cup champion will miss Paris in first time since his successful premiere in 2005. That he won’t be able to celebrate turning 37 in Paris.

Nadal has battled a chronic ailment in his left foot that has not prevented him from lifting the trophy in 2022 even though that joint is permanently anesthetized during matches. Knees are often a problem, the explanation for his first defeat, in 2009 against the Swede robin soderling. A wrist problem caused him to miss the third round.

However, he found a thousand times a cure for a serious physical difficulty. There were 112 games won out of 115 played, a successful balance that explains how in the French capital there is always a remedy Rafael Nadal.

Until the grade 2 injury came to the iliac psoas of the left leg. “The normal recovery time is between 6 and 8 weeks,” said the first part, on January 19, after the MRI.

But total recovery takes forever, with many problems along the way. “I am not yet ready to compete at the highest level,” he pointed out on April 4 when he officially withdrew from Monte Carlo. “I’m still not ready,” he said on April 14, the day he was left out of the Conde de Godó Trophy.

Outside the top-100 of the world ranking

Rafa Nadal will appear fifteenth or sixteenth in the next world ranking (depending on how Coric does in Rome), with 2,445 points. Of which 2,000 corresponds to his Roland Garros 2022 title, which he will forfeit after Paris if he does not participate. He will be left with 445, which is equivalent to falling out of the top 100, placing himself beyond position 130. A small problem considering the hip injury, although it will be another obstacle to his reappearance on the ATP Tour. He will not directly enter tournaments, although he will avoid that by having invitations from events. Yes, it will be a distorting element for the competition tables, because it can fight with another favorite. In 2022, the campaign was derailed with an abdominal tear that left him out of the Wimbledon semifinals.

His words on April 20 were even more alarming. Not because of his farewell to Madrid, but because he introduced an alarming variant. “As you know, I had a major injury in Australia. Initially, it was supposed to be a six to eight week recovery period and we are fourteen years in now. All medical indications were followed but somehow the evolution is not what they first told us and we find ourselves in a difficult situation. The wound is still not healed.”

He pointed out, as a novelty, that “we decided to change the course a little bit, do another treatment and see if things improve. I can’t give deadlines.” On May 5, he resigned in Rome, “despite a noticeable improvement in recent days, having not been able to train at a high level for many months.” Roland Garros starts on May 28. The race against time, trying everything, found so many obstacles on the way.

Nadal’s 18 Roland Garros

2005: Champion (Mariano Puerta)
2006: Champion (Roger Federer)
2007: Champion (Roger Federer)
2008: Champion (Roger Federer)
2009: Eighth (Robin Soderling)
2010: Champion (Robin Soderling)
2011: Champion (Roger Federer)
2012: Champion (Novak Djokovic)
2013: Champion (David Ferrer)
2014: Champion (Novak Djokovic)
2015: Quarterfinals (Novak Djokovic)
2016: 3rd round (Marcel Granollers. No
filed for wrist injury)
2017: Champion (Stan Wawrinka)
2018: Champion (Dominic Thiem)
2019: Champion (Dominic Thiem)
2020: Champion (Novak Djokovic)
2021: Semifinals (Novak Djokovic)
2022: Champion (Casper Ruud)
112 games won and 3 lost