Thunderbolt in tennis! The Spaniard Rafael Nadal, 14 times winner of Roland-Garros, was forced to forfeit a week before the start of the Grand Slam. In the process, several players reacted to this announcement. “I imagine it’s the first Roland Garros without Rafa for ten years or more, and out of those ten he’s won it nine, or eight times,” Russian Daniil Medvedev said after his quarter-final win. final at the Masters 1000 in Rome. “It opens up possibilities for a lot of players, because even without being 100%, if he had decided to play, he would have been a favorite, obviously,” he added.
For his part, Carlos Alcaraz, had a strong thought for his Spanish compatriot: “Good luck Rafa! It’s very painful and sad for everyone that you can’t be there at Roland-Garros and that you can’t keep playing this year, but hopefully 2024 will be a great season for you, and that you can retire like the great champion that you are!” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
Muchísimo ánimo Rafa! ❤️ Muy doloroso y triste para todos que no puedas estar en Roland Garros ni jugar más este año, pero deseando que 2024 se una gran temporada para ti y puedas despedirte como el gran campeón que eres! @Rafael Nadalpic.twitter.com/KIfVSnRRS7
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) May 18, 2023
At 19, Alcaraz became the youngest ATP ranked No. 1 in history in 2022, and is often touted as the successor to legend Nadal, who will turn 37 on June 3, eight days before the Roland final. -Garros.
A return for the Davis Cup?
Since his first coronation on Parisian clay in 2005, two days after his 19th birthday, Nadal has never failed Porte d’Auteuil. He has accumulated more than 110 victories there and has only experienced three defeats (in 2009, 2015 and 2021), plus a withdrawal during the tournament (2016, because of his left wrist). It is therefore a blow for the Spaniard but also for the organizers of the Tournament.
During this same press conference, “Rafa” specified that he would be unavailable “for the next few months”. His “objective could be to play the Davis Cup” in November, just to start “with guarantees”, “which could be the last year” of his career. There will therefore be no Nadal on the grass of Wimbledon, already orphaned by Roger Federer, nor on the hard of the US Open.