Today at his eponymous academy on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Rafael Nadal made official what the tennis world has suspected for weeks. He will not be playing in the French Open, the major he has won 14 times, the site of his personal clay canvas where he compiled a risible record of 112–3.
At January’s Australian Open, he suffered an injury to his upper hip. He has not played since, missing the entire clay court lead-up for the first time in his career. There was wishful thinking that he was rationing his energy for one final give-it-everything-I-got hurrah starting next week in Paris. But today’s announcement dispelled that. Injuries have been as much a part of his career as clay court excellence. (Even as a teenager, a foot injury prevented him from playing the French Open in 2004.) And he has been as adept at managing his bodily crises as he has been at slinging his lefthanded, spin-drizzled strokes. That this injury prevents him from entering his personal clay playground—the place where his statue already adorns the grounds, as if peeled off Mount Rushmore—says plenty about the severity.
Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated
In his absence it’s another physical, relentless Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz, 17 years Nadal’s junior, who emerges as the favorite. And Novak Djokovic, the only man to beat Nadal at Roland Garros multiple times, is another obvious favorite. Fresh off beating Djokovic in Rome on Wednesday, Denmark’s Holger Rune, age 20, is another A-list contender.
Still, a French Open without Nadal will feel somewhat akin to Paris without the Eiffel Tower. The week he turned 19, he won the 2005 French Open. And then won it 13 more times, more than any player in tennis history has ever won a single event. He has won eight additional majors, tying him with Djokovic at 22, the most in men’s tennis history.
As time does its flamenco dance on yet another colossus athlete, the inevitable question becomes: Where does Nadal, a few weeks from turning 37, go from here? That today’s announcement was merely about pulling out of the French Open, not pulling out of his gilded career, ought to provide a least a glimmer of optimism.
