“If I have no choice…”

Rafael Nadal shook the tennis world this Monday when he questioned his participation in the next Grand Slam it’s from the season, Roland Garros. The Spaniard stated that if he was not in a position to be competitive he would not participate in the tournament so that the same thing as in the tournament does not happen to him. Roma and in Madrid. The last tournament he played was Masters 1000 from the Italian capital and was quickly eliminated in the second round of the competition at the hands of the Pole Hubert Hurkaczwho beat him 6-1, 6-3.

The Mallorcan was eliminated in the round of 16 in the Madrid Masters 1000. The Czech Use Lehecka He won the match 7-5, 6-4, depriving him of becoming champion in his country. The 37-year-old tennis player also questioned his continuity as a professional tennis player.

“I don’t want to feel at Roland Garros the way I felt in Madrid or Barcelona, ​​without being able to really fight“said the Spanish racket in an interview on France 2 before the Rome tournament. He also stated that if he feels he has no option “to be competitive” he will not participate, but if he has “0.01% options” He will go in search of his fifteenth crown.

The clay court tournament will begin on May 20th and will end June 9. Not having Nadal’s participation would be a hard loss for the tournament, but a respite for the other tennis players looking to make history. The Spaniard is the top winner at Roland Garros with 14 titles.

“I mean going out to play the tournament thinking that I can’t be at my best, one hundred percent. If being at the maximum is not enough to even win a game, we will have to accept it. But I don’t see myself entering the court knowing that I have no option,” said the Mallorcan.

Although he never said that this was going to be his last season, the Spanish tennis player acknowledged that deep down he thought about it and noted that “you never know what will happen in the future“. He also commented that his physique “He reacted a little worse than I expected at the beginning of the season“but now it is progressing better.

“I’m fine, happy to be on the circuit after several months without knowing if I would be able to play again. I was very sad not to be able to play in Monte Carlo, but I was able to play in Barcelona, ​​Madrid and Rome, and I hope to play Roland Garros. They are tournaments that They have great sporting and sentimental value for me, it is difficult to explain it in words, I hope to play in all the tournaments where I can be“he exclaimed.

Nadal also welcomes the possibility of competing in the Paris Olympic Games, which will take place between August and September. “They are something unique in sport, an atmosphere that is only experienced during the Games. I think they are the essence of sport. This year they will be at Roland Garros, the most important city of my career. “I have to do a lot of things first, but I hope to be able to compete in them, I would really like to.”

The king of the earth had his first participation in the Grand Slam French in 2005 and was crowned champion after beating the Argentine in the final Martiano Puerta by 6-7, 6-3, 6-1 and 7-5, from there the Spanish dynasty on French soil would begin. He won the 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions.

In 2009 he would lose in the fourth round to the Swede Robin Söderling by 2-6, 7-6, 4-6 and 6-7. However, Rafa would win again Musketeers Cup in 2010 and would repeat for four years in a row. Between 2017 and 2020 he would be the tournament champion.

The last time he won it was in 2022 when he won 6-3, 6-3 and 6-0 against the Norwegian Casper Ruud. He was unable to defend the title last year because he suffered a hip injury in January 2023 during the Australian Open which left him out of the rest of the season.

Nadal is considered the best clay court player in history and holds the record of having been champion 14 times. Roland Garros. On May 20, all eyes will be on whether or not the Spaniard participates in the second Grand Slam it’s from the season.