Carlos Alcaraz leads tributes to Rafael Nadal following French Open withdrawal - 'Very painful and sad'
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ByEurosport
Published 18/05/2023 at 16:49 GMT
There will be no Rafael Nadal at the 2023 French Open after the 14-time Paris champion confirmed he would not be able to defend his crown on account of injury. The Spanish icon has said he intends to play on, with 2024 possibly his final year as a professional, and the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev have wished the former world No. 1 a rapid recovery.
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Carlos Alcaraz has led the reaction to the news that Rafael Nadal will not defend his French Open title.
Nadal has been sidelined since picking up an injury at the Australian Open at the start of 2023.
When he said last month that his return had been delayed due to a misdiagnosis of his injury, eyebrows were raised as to whether he would be fit to defend a title he has won on 14 occasions.
On Thursday, Nadal confirmed he would be absent from Roland-Garros, and that he would take as much time out as needed to get fit.
"Today I'm still in a position that I am not able to feel myself ready to compete at the standards that I need to be [at] to play a Roland-Garros,” Nadal said. “I am not the guy that is going to be at Roland-Garros and just try to be there and put myself in a position that I don't like to be [in].”
With Nadal absent, Alcaraz is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the title in Paris and he has wished his fellow Spaniard well in his recovery.
Alcaraz wrote: “Lots of encouragement Rafa! Very painful and sad for everyone that you can't be at Roland Garros or play more this year, but wishing that 2024 will be a great season for you and you can say goodbye as the great champion you are!”
The tournament director of Roland-Garros, Amelie Mauresmo, expressed her disappointment following the news.
“I’m so disappointed for Rafael Nadal, who has had to withdraw from Roland-Garros, his favourite tournament," Mauresmo said.
"I’m also disappointed for the spectators at the Porte d'Auteuil as well as for all tennis fans, who will not get to see this amazing champion in action this year.
"We will really miss seeing Rafael Nadal, whose destiny is closely linked with that of Roland-Garros after winning the tournament 14 times. Right now, my thoughts go out to him, as I can only imagine the pain and sadness he must be feeling after having to make such a hard decision. It’s heart-breaking.
"We hope that he will be able to recover quickly so that he can get back out onto the tennis courts, and we hope to see him at Roland-Garros next year.”
Daniil Medvedev was in action at the Italian Open when informed of Nadal’s absence from the second major of the year, and hopes “one of the best in history” can return swiftly.
“Hopefully he can come back as fast as possible because he’s an amazing player, amazing athlete, one of the best in the history”, Medvedev said.
“We can argue about this but hopefully he can come back and play some more Slams as long as he can and we’ll see how it goes.”
Despite his kind words, Medvedev also appreciates the opportunity Nadal’s absence provides.
“I guess it’s a first Roland Garros in whatever, 10 years, where there is no Rafa and probably out of these ten he won it probably what, nine, eight times.
“It opens the possibility for many players because even if he would not be let’s call it 100% physically but he would decide to play, he would be favourite, for sure”, he said.
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