Out of French Open, Nadal's goal is to be ready for Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal, who withdrew from the French Open with a wrist injury on Friday, has given more details about the problems he is experiencing and his schedule for a return.

Nadal said he has an inflamed tendon casing in his left wrist that could lead to a tear.

"If I go on playing, it's going to break and it will mean months off the circuit," he told reporters in Spanish.

The world No. 5 described experiencing the injury in Madrid, and said he had a minor anesthetic injection before he played his semifinal against Andy Murray in Rome. But the problem flared up at the French Open, with Nadal receiving a more significant injection in his wrist before his second-round match.

"I could play, but yesterday I started to feel more and more pain, and today in the morning I felt I could not move my wrist [very much]," he said. "I can't hit a forehand drive."

An MRI indicated that the injury was worsening, Nadal said. His doctor explained that he could not have injections for five more matches at the tournament, prompting his decision to withdraw.

Players reacted with surprise, since the nine-time French Open champion had given little indication that he was injured and had dropped just nine games in the first two rounds. But Andy Murray said he spotted an issue while the two were hitting before the tournament.

“I practiced with him earlier and he had it heavily strapped, grimacing a little bit,” Murray said. “But I didn’t know it was bad enough for him to pull out of the event.”

The Spaniard looks doubtful for the Aegon Championships in London, the warm-up grass-court event on his schedule, but is aiming to return at Wimbledon.

"We’re gonna work hard to be ready for Wimbledon,” said Nadal, who wore a blue-colored brace at his press conference. “For the moment I need a couple of weeks ... immobilization.”

Nadal said this injury is not as significant as some that he has had throughout his career, and was told he could recover with a few weeks of rest and medical attention.

"It's not like the knee, where we could not see the duration," he said.

He did note, however, that recovery times do not always follow the doctor's schedule.

“You can't simply rely on the dates,” Nadal admitted. “Maybe I'll be three months off the circuit."

Nadal won the clay-court event in Monte Carlo, reached the semifinals in Madrid and got to the quarterfinals in Rome.