Tennis fans cannot feel good about the latest news coming out of Spain.
There are reports circulating that 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, 36, will withdraw from this year’s French Open slated to start next week.
🚨 According to Nacho Encabo (@relevo), Rafael Nadal will WITHDRAW from Roland Garros 2023 😢
— Olly 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) May 17, 2023
We will not have to speculate if these rumors are true because Nadal has scheduled a press conference for Thursday afternoon.
From Nadal’s PR team:
‘Good afternoon. Rafa Nadal will hold a press conference tomorrow at 4pm at the Rafa Nadal Academy by MoviStar to inform about his participation in Roland Garros. If he plays or not and the reasons either way will be only be communicated tomorrow.‘
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) May 17, 2023
What We Know
We know that Nadal has not played since the Australian Open.
He has been dealing with a hip injury that has taken much longer than he expected to heal.
Nadal has withdrawn from all of the prominent spring clay court tournaments that he has dominated in the past in Madrid, Barcelona, and Rome.
He has been on the practice courts trying to get ready for another run at Roland Garros.
A fairly inconclusive clip of Rafael Nadal’s Monday practice … the key is the movement, sliding on the backhand side, and practice points with serve. Once those two are in place there will be reason for optimism pic.twitter.com/bWIe9IOafl
— Talking Tennis (@TalkingTennisTT) May 15, 2023
Best Case Scenario
The best-case scenario is that Nadal needs to skip Roland Garros and will prepare for the grass court season with a Wimbledon appearance in the future.
Admittedly, this is not a great best-case scenario because Nadal is the 14-time French Open champion.
He has a statue on the ground of Roland Garros because he is the king of clay and has owned this tournament for a generation.
IDENTICAL!!! Finally Rafael Nadal statue at Roland Garros 😍🙏🏿🎾🏆#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/VcNeVbHxrT
— fedaltennis⁴² (@TennisFedal) May 27, 2021
And let’s face it, the French Open without Rafael Nadal in it is going to feel extremely odd.
Worst Case Scenario
The absolute worst-case scenario is that Nadal is retiring from the sport effective immediately.
Nadal has posted video messages on social media when he has withdrawn from other tournaments this spring.
He has also used social media to update fans on his health and injury issues.
Having a live press conference in Spain on Thursday afternoon is much more formal and could indicate a massive announcement is forthcoming.
Conclusion
Both of these theories could be way off base; hopefully, they are.
Maybe there is good news forthcoming from the press conference.
Perhaps Rafa is playing in the French Open and wanted to have a press Q&A in Spain before traveling to Paris.
The situation could go either way and tomorrow we will learn the truth.
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