Camila Sosa
Rafael Nadal will be four to six weeks off due to injuries and his performance at Roland Garros is in jeopardy.
As revealed by the 35-year-old tennis player himself through his Twitter account, he has a crack in a rib, exactly in the third left rib arch, which will take him away, at least, from the first tournaments of the European tour in brick powder that includes Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Madrid.
Nadal’s injury occurred in the semifinal match against fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells. During his presentation, the current world number 3 in the ATP rankings was seen complaining about the pectoral after a volley from Alcaraz that made him spread completely near the net. Nadal ended up taking the win and never talked about the annoyance.
Nadal decided to overlook the pain and appeared at the final of the tournament against the American Taylor Fritz, who ended up winning the commitment in two sets while watching as Nadal repeatedly asked for time to be treated for his breathing problems. After the engagement, the Spaniard attended the press and it was the moment in which he revealed the pains he brought with him since the duel with Alcaraz.
Rafael Nadal’s injury cuts short the great start to the season that the Spaniard was experiencing, one that resembles the several he had at the beginning of his career. In 2022 Nadal stitched together a string of 20 consecutive victories, which ended against Fritz, and that guided him to take the titles of the Melbourne Open, the Mexico Open and the Australia Open, the latter being the one that earned him position himself as the greatest Grand Slam winner by adding 21.
Rafael Nadal’s Dominance at Roland Garros
The possible absence of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros would be a blow to tennis lovers, but a relief for his potential rivals.
The Spaniard is the winningest tennis player in the history of the French Open by winning the Grand Slam thirteen times, the first of them in the 2005 campaign, when he was consecrated as the fourth youngest player to achieve it (19 years and two days) and the second to triumph in his first participation in the open with the Swedish Mats Wilander.
From then on, he would be practically unbeatable: he won the Grand Slam in 2006, 2007 and 2008, being arrested in 2009 by Roger Federer. In 2010 Nadal resumed the scepter he retained for five consecutive years (2010-2014), giving up just two sets among all the finals he played.
After not playing the 2015 tournament due to injury and retiring with discomfort in 2016, a recovered Nadal was once again the dictator of France between 2017-2020 by winning four finals in a row and giving up just one set between them. In 2021 he would be eliminated in the semifinals by Novak Djokovic.
