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It was supposed to be the Judgment Day, and it was, for Rafael Nadal, who made two sensational announcements: he will not play Roland Garros in 2023, and he will retire from tennis in 2024. The first image that comes to mind of every tennis fan tennis when he thinks of the Roland Garros, he can only project the reproduction of a constantly triumphant Rafael Nadal into his album of memories.
The Spanish champion has imposed his dominance on Parisian clay since 2005, the year in which he participated for the first time in the French Open, and he has never stopped shining. 112 victories and only 3 defeats, 14 titles: no one had ever set such a record in a Grand Slam tournament.
Even last edition, when he had to deal with a foot problem, Nadal managed to accomplish the feat by eliminating among others the only one capable of beating him twice in Paris, namely Novak Djokovic. The news had been in the air for a few hours now, the Spanish media had already anticipated his choice: Nadal will not play Roland Garros 2023.
The Spaniard had never missed the second Grand Slam of the year since 2004; the only real sore point came in 2016 with his retirement before taking the field for the third round match against his compatriot Marcel Granollers.
Nadal, however, has not only announced that he will not take part in the Roland Garros but that his season may already be over and that next year should be his last. Nadal has not yet recovered from the iliopsoas injury suffered at the Australian Open.
Everyone thought that he would have rejoined the circuit on Monte Carlo clay courts; then came the retreats in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome. The Majorcan has convened a special conference within his Academy to explain the reasons that led him to make this tough decision.
Nadal, who currently occupies the fourteenth position in the ranking, will lose another 2000 points and will leave the top 100 at the end of Roland Garros. The Spaniard said: "The injury didn't heal as we wanted, we worked hard to try and get back on the court.
But it's impossible for me to play Roland Garros. It's a shame after many years, it's a great date for me. It's difficult, but my body has decided for me. I won't play for the next few months as well, as the results of the last few months have been of a low level.
I want to play continuously, I've always had so many injuries. It's hard when it's so complicated to work. There have been major victories, but the reality is that they have been complicated. In the last few months I've worked so hard to come back, but I couldn't make it.
I want to take the time to recover and get back to the highest level possible. I won't give a return date, when I'm ready mentally and physically I'll be back. One goal could be to go back to playing the Davis Cup and start 2024 well, with the guarantee of being able to be competitive. Maybe 2024 will be the last year on the court."
