Spanish Tennis player, Rafa Nadal bows out of the Roland Garros due to injury, says ‘next year is my last year’

Rafael Nadal will miss the French Open for the first time since he made his debut in 2005 after the 14-time champion announced on Thursday that he has withdrawn from the tournament due to injury, adding that next year will be his last year in professional tennis. The Spaniard suffered a hip injury during his second-round Australian Open defeat to Mackenzie McDonald in January and initially said he hoped to be fit again within six (6) to eight (8) weeks.

However, in an update posted on social media on 20th April and then again on Thursday, the 22-time grand slam champion said his recovery process was taking longer than anticipated. Nadal also revealed that he will be away from the court for the next “few months” as he continues to recover, meaning the 36-year-old is also likely to miss the next Wimbledon.

Nadal has lost just three times at the French Open since his victorious debut appearance in 2005, undoubtedly one of the most dominant records in all of sport. In 2009, he suffered one of the biggest upset in tennis history after losing in the round of 16 to Robin Söderling, before being beaten Novak Djokovic in 2015 and 2021. In 2016, Nadal withdrew ahead of his third-round match against compatriot Marcel Granollers due to a nagging wrist injury.

Nadal has not played since the Australian Open and in March dropped out of the world’s top 10 for the first time since as far back as 2005, to put his illustrious career into context. The entire world of tennis anticipates the return of the legend for the final lap of his time in tennis.