Rafael Nadal meets the press The 14-time defending champion announced this Thursday at his academy in Manacor, Mallorca that he will not be playing in the 2023 edition of Roland Garros.
“They were tough years. Even if the important results masked it, the regularity cost me,” the Spaniard admitted. “I don’t deserve to end the press conference like this. I’m going to try to end it differently.”
“I haven’t set a return date. When I’m ready, I’ll start again. Davis Cup could be a goal. I want to try to face the best next year. Last year With the guarantee of enjoying my sporting career. I want to give myself a chance.”
“I’m sad, I missed an important season. I’m ready on a tennis level, but physically it’s not like that,” he elaborated. “You have to accept things even if my head doesn’t like it.”
“I’m going to try and not just compare my last year. I want to win these tournaments on land,” he concluded. “I don’t want to take that spot from anybody in the protected ranks. If I need calls, I think I’ve gotten them.”
Asked about Paris 2024, he said: “It’s hard to predict how my body will be. I don’t want to say one thing and do another. I’ll look at the best schedule. Of course the Olympics are one of the biggest competitions. I want to be at the “.
The winner of 22 Grand Slam titles played her last official match against American Mackenzie McDonald (lost 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5) in the second round of the Australian Open last January. The first Grand Slam champion of 2023.
Since then, he has continued to recover from an iliac crest injury that has already prevented him from playing in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome this year.
