Rafael Nadal pauses retirement talk: I'm confident I can return to Roland Garros

• Tennis News
• Rafael Nadal

Record 21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has said that he will definitely try to return to the French Open next year. Nadal, who turned 36 on Friday, hinted several times during this year's French Open that he might never again play at Roland Garros.

Nadal skipped almost the entire second half of the 2021 season due to a chronic foot pain and he is again having troubles with his foot. Nadal can still play at a high level but his foot is often causing him troubles and he can't stay pain-free for a longer period.

"I am confident and I trust I can return [to Roland-Garros]," Nadal said, per Eurosport. “I accept things as they come, I have no intention of making it seem like a farewell. We keep working to find a solution to my foot injury.

My intention is to return to Roland-Garros next year."

Nadal: I hope to find a solution for my foot

"I am old enough to not hide things or come here to say a thing that I don't believe," Nadal said. "I don't know what can happen.

I think, as I said before, I'm going to be playing this tournament because we are doing the things to be ready to play this tournament, but I don't know what's going to happen after here. I have what I have in the foot, so if we are not able to find an improvement or small solution to that, then it's becoming super difficult for me.

So that's it. I am just enjoying every day that I have the chance to be here, and without thinking much about what can happen in the future. Of course, I'm going to keep fighting to find a solution, but for the moment we haven't [got one]." Nadal hasn't had much luck with his health in the last year but still he has managed to win several titles.