Rafael Nadal withdraws from French Open with hip injury; 2024 likely to be last year on tour

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Rafael Nadal’s most challenging and consistent rival throughout his illustrious career—health—will end his reign as French Open champion.

The 14-time Roland Garros conqueror and 22-time Grand Slam singles champion announced on Thursday that he is unable to defend his title in Paris due a lingering hip injury suffered at his last tournament, the Australian Open.

“You can imagine how difficult it is for me,” said the soon-to-be-37-year-old from the Rafa Nadal Academy in his hometown of Mallorca, in Spanish. “It's a decision my body made.”

The Spaniard also indicated that the 2024 season will, in all likelihood, serve as his tour farewell.

“My ambition is to stop to give myself an opportunity to enjoy next year,” said Nadal in English. “Next year is probably going to be my last on the professional tour.”

The announcement was a formality given Nadal’s successive withdrawals from customary tour stops in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome. With each passing week without Rafa in a big-time clay-court draw, playing the French Open became more of a longshot.

And as astonishing as Nadal’s Roland Garros record is—112 wins, three losses—it was unrealistic for fans to expect the veteran to flip a switch at this stage of his career, in best-of-five-set competition. It would also be reckless for Nadal, who still aims to compete for at least another year.

“Not going to be able to play in Roland Garros,” confirmed a sullen but realistic Nadal in English. “[I was] working as much as possible every single day for the last four months. We were not able to find the solution to the problem we had in Australia.”

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This is the first time Nadal won’t play Roland Garros since 2004, when he withdrew with an ankle injury. He would go on to win the tournament nine times over the next 10 years, his only loss coming to Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the 2009 edition. Taking nothing away from the Swede’s ball-bashing and code-cracking performance, injury also impacted Nadal that day: he would go on to withdraw from Wimbledon as defending champion.

Since winning his first French Open (and Grand Slam title) in 2005, Nadal has withdrawn from eight major tournaments due to injury; he also missed the 2020 US Open due to COVID-19 concerns.

But in making this latest withdrawal, Nadal is playing the long game, hoping to say goodbye to the tour stops he has held dear in an ideally healthy 2024. He said that he is “gonna stop for a while”—anywhere from 1-4 months, but without 100 percent confirmation—but does not intend to stop playing, at the French Open or around the world, just yet.

“I don't want to say one thing but do another,” said Nadal, in response to a question trying to play the 2024 Olympic Games—to be held at Roland Garros next summer. “If it's my last tournament or not, I don't know.”