In the early morning of May 18, Beijing time, news from many well-known Spanish media such as "Marca", "World Sports Newspaper" and "Relovo" that the 37-year-old "king of clay" Nadal will miss this year's French Open due to injury. While Nadal missed the title defense, he also missed the chance to reach his 15th French Open title.
Since losing to McDonnell at the Australian Open this year, Nadal has been on the squad for a long time due to injury. He also missed clay Masters such as Madrid and Rome, and Nadal has fallen to 15th in the world in the latest ATP rankings. Nadal has been in a race against time to match the French Open, which runs from May 28 to June 11, the tournament he has the best chance of winning of the four Grand Slams.
Unfortunately, according to Spanish media, Nadal's psoas muscle injury did not recover in time. Nadal won't return until at least Wimbledon in July. Because of this, the Spanish veteran had no choice but to give up the opportunity to defend the French Open. Nadal will personally announce and explain the reason for his withdrawal from the French Open at a press conference at 22 o'clock Beijing time on the 18th.
As the "king of clay", Nadal has won 14 French Open titles in his career, and in the 2022 French Open, Nadal defeated Norwegian Ruud to win the title. With Nadal out injured, Spanish talent Alcaraz, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, and Novak Djokovic will be the strongest contenders for the French Open title.