MALLORCA. Spain. By Emiliano Naftali
Rafael Nadal has communicated that he will not be participating in this year’s Roland Garros, as he has been unable to recover from the psoas injury sustained in January during the Australian Open. As a result, the 14-time champion of the tournament will not be present in Paris and has stated that he will not compete in any more tournaments this year, except for the Davis Cup Finals. With this decision, he will forfeit the 2000 points earned from last year’s title and will drop out of the top 120 in the rankings, a position he hasn’t been in since 2003.
Nadal assured that he may only consider playing the Davis Cup at the end of the year if the Spanish captain wishes and if his physical condition allows for it.
Having been out of competition since injuring his left iliopsoas in January, when he was defeated in the second round of the Australian Open by American player Mackenzie McDonald, this will be the first time that the 36-year-old Nadal will not be present in Paris since his debut in 2005, when he won his first of 14 titles at the tournament. This year, Roland Garros will take place from May 28th until June 11th.