Rafael Nadal is pulling out of next week's Rome Masters tournament due to a hip injury — the same hip injury that forced him to withdraw from the 2023 Australian Open back in January.
However, there was a kernel of good news in Rafa's announcement: He said that he's noticed an improvement in recent days. That's a far cry from where he was two weeks ago when he announced his withdrawal from the Madrid Open, when revealed that despite following all the medical recommendations,Nadal is the King of Clay, having won a mind-blowing 14 French Open trophies over the course of his career. The crowd loves him, and he loves playing there.
What might be more concerning is his overall readiness to jump back into top-level competition. Due to the hip injury, which he sustained in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open, Nadal has barely seen a competitive court this year. By the time he gets to Roland Garros , he'll have gone over four months without playing a single match. Over the past 10 months, he's won just five total matches.
That's taken a toll on his ranking. He ended 2022 at No. 2 in the world, but on April 25, 2023, he exited the top ten for the first time in 18 years, a total of 912 consecutive weeks. It was the longest top ten streak in ATP history. At this point in his career, Nadal seems to be past caring about his worldwide ranking. He knows he's facing down the end of his career and so every tournament means a little more. He's saving up all his energy to compete for his record 15th trophy at Roland Garros, where he has always played his best.
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