Rafael Nadal provides injury update and suggests return date

Rafael Nadal has revealed that abdominal issues have resulted in his latest three-month setback from the tennis tour.

The 37-year-old, who previously stated that 2024 was likely to represent a “farewell tour” before retirement, has not played since his return from a year-long absence in Brisbane in January.

Prior to that, the 22-time Grand Slam champion missed nearly all of the 2023 season due to a hip injury, with Nadal undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his psoas muscle last June.

While he has been consistently training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca having pulled out from the Indian Wells-Miami double header in March, his latest withdrawal from the Monte-Carlo Masters this week has put his availability for the French Open at the end of May into serious doubt.

I have things to solve and the reality is at the moment, I’m not being able to 1qqqqqqq1 myself in a position to compete. It’s hard.

“On a personal level everything is good. On a professional level, it is difficult and you also have to weigh the bad moments and those you would never have imagined experiencing.