Picture Credit: Twitter
For the first time since 1998, the tennis court will be without two legends of the game in Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal announced his withdrawal from this year’s French Open. His decision came after failing to recover from his hip injury sustained at Australian Open earlier this year.
However, this year will mark Nadal’s first absence from the Grand Slam in a total of 18-long years, the Spaniard has dropped a massive hint on his retirement. His statement on retiring from tennis comes hours after his withdrawal from French Open 2023. While addressing the press conference on his pulling out of the tournament, Nadal said that 2024 might be his last.
“I’ll look to be 100% ready for next year, which I believe will be the last year of my professional career,” Rafael Nadal said at the press conference.
Wimbledon also took to Twitter to quote this statement of Nadal which read, “2024 is probably going to be my last year on the professional Tour. My motivation is to try and enjoy and say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important to me.”
Adding to this, Nadal further asserted that he will not confirm on his return date but hopes to be back at the Davis Cup by the end of this year. “I’ll not establish a date for my return. I’ll see how my body responds and take it from there…. if I can come back until the end of the year for the Davis Cup.”
