A Major upset: Holder Nadal opts out of French Open
Paris, May 18
Holder Rafa Nadal will miss the French Open after failing to regain full fitness from a hip injury suffered at the Australian Open in January, the 14-time Roland Garros winner said today, adding 2024 could be the final year of his career.
Nadal, who has dominated the claycourt season for years, has competed at Roland Garros every year since claiming the first of his men’s joint-record 22 Major titles in Paris in 2005.
“I’ll look to be 100% ready for next year, which I believe will be the last year of my professional career,” Nadal, 36, told reporters at a press conference. “The evolution of the injury I sustained in Australia has not gone as I would have liked. I have lost goals along the way, and Roland Garros becomes impossible.
Nadal said he needs to stop playing for the foreseeable future to make a full recovery and return for what he anticipates will be his farewell season. “I’ll not establish a date for my return. I’ll see how my body responds and take it from there,” he said. “If I keep playing at this moment, I don’t think I can be there next year. I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back in the highest level and compete for Grand Slams. What I will try to do is to give myself the opportunity to go back to what could be my final year.” — Reuters
Medvedev in semis
Rome: World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev produced a dominant performance against German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann to reach his first Italian Open semifinal, cruising to a 6-2 6-2 victory today. Medvedev, who has described himself as a “hard court specialist”, had never won a match in Rome before this year’s tournament but has produced some of his best tennis to reach the last-four on clay for the first time since Monte Carlo in 2019.
Meanwhile, two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek retired in the third set of her quarterfinal against Elena Rybakina because of a right thigh injury. The retirement ended Swiatek’s 14-match winning streak in Rome and raised questions over her status for the French Open. ap
