Spanish tennis participant Rafael Nadal provides a press convention on the Mutua Madrid Open tennis match in Madrid, on April 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP
Rafael Nadal mentioned on April 24 he will only play on the upcoming French Open if he feels “capable enough to compete well”.
The 14-time Roland Garros champion conceded that if the motion in Paris have been to kick off at the moment, he wouldn’t be capable to take part however vowed to maintain preventing for the prospect to play at his most profitable match one final time.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next three weeks. I will keep fighting and doing the things I believe I have to do so I can try to play in Paris, and if I can play, I play, if I can’t, I can’t,” the previous world primary instructed reporters on the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
“I will not play in Paris if I am the way I am now. If Paris were today, I wouldn’t take to the court. That’s the reality. I will only play in Paris if I feel capable enough to compete well.”
Nadal returned to tennis in Brisbane in January after spending nearly a whole 12 months on the sidelines nursing a psoas damage. But his comeback was short-lived as he sustained a muscle downside in Australia and has competed in simply 5 matches to date this season.
Not 100%
The Spaniard kicked off his clay marketing campaign in Barcelona final week, the place he misplaced within the second spherical and is ready to face 16-year-old American Darwin Blanch in his Madrid opener on Thursday.
“I don’t think I’m ready to play at my 100 percent but I’m prepared to go out and play tomorrow. It’s important for me to play one last time here in Madrid, for me it means a lot,” mentioned the 37-year-old Nadal.
As he makes an attempt to renew his ‘Last Dance’ in Madrid and say goodbye to certainly one of his favorite tournaments on courtroom, quite than on the sidelines, the 22-time main champion admits his farewell tour hasn’t been as pleasant as he would have hoped.
“A few weeks ago, I didn’t know if I will be able to play again on the professional tour, so today I am playing,” he added.
“It’s not perfect, of course not perfect, but at least I am playing and I can enjoy again, especially in the few tournaments that are so emotional for me. I’m able to enjoy the fact that I can say probably good-bye on court.”
Nadal says he’s hitting the ball nicely when he is ready to be on courtroom however “it’s about more body limitations. I went through a lot of things last year and a half, two years”.
“So body feelings are not enough good to feel myself playing with freedom enough in terms of body issues. That’s not allowing me to compete the way that I would like to compete.”