‘Impossible to play Roland Garros’: Rafael Nadal to miss French Open for the first time since 2004

22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal on Thursday confirmed that he will miss the upcoming French Open owing to his ongoing bout with injury, making it a first instance of the Spaniard not featuring in the competition since 2004, having won it 14 times.
“I’m not going to be able to play Roland Garros. We were not able to find the solution to the problem I had in Australia,” Nadal revealed in a press conference.
The Spaniard further announced that he was going to take a break from the game, not putting a date to his comeback but stating that he believed 2024 will be the last year of his career and that he’d love to be at the Paris Olympics next year.
“Last four months have been difficult. Not going to be able to play at Roland Garros. Real situation was that … after pandemic, body was not able to hold practices and diary work. Too many problems. Having to stop due to physical issues. My decision is to stop. Stop for a while. may be month and half maybe four months. Not a person to predict. Don’t want to put myself in a position to say one thing and do another thing. Next year is going to be my last year on professional tour. That’s my idea,” Nadal said.
Nadal has been on the sidelines since picking a left hip flexor injury during a second-round loss at the Australian Open in January. Following an MRI scan at the time, the Spaniard’s manager Benito Perez-Barbadillo had revealed that Nadal would need a minimum of two months for a full recovery.
Aiming to recover at the Monte Carlo Masters, the red clay tournament in March, Nadal was unable to do so and has since missed on subsequent competitions including the ongoing Italian Open of which he had pulled out earlier this month.

However, the French Open is a bigger miss than any for Nadal. The Spaniard’s record in the competition is 112-3 in favor across 18 editions of the grand slam.
Nadal’s recent record doesn’t sit in his favor though. Nadal is just 1-3 this season. He has dropped seven of his past nine matches overall, dating to a fourth-round loss to Frances Tiafoe in the U.S. Open’s fourth round last September.