Rafael Nadal 'is going to play in Paris' at the French Open, according to his uncle Toni Nadal

ByEurosport

Published 28/04/2023 at 12:31 GMT

Rafael Nadal faces a race against time to be fit for the French Open in May; a tournament the 22-time Grand Slam winner has won 14 times in his decorated career. Rafael Nadal's uncle, Toni, who used to coach the Spaniard but is now on Felix Auger-Aliassime's team, says the 36-year-old "will play in Paris" even though he has not played competitively since the Australian Open in January.

Toni Nadal says Rafael Nadal will be ready in time to compete at the French Open this year.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion has not played on the ATP tour this year since a second-round defeat to Mackenzie Macdonald at the Australian Open in January after he sustained a hip injury.

Earlier this year, his medical problem was diagnosed as a psoas injury, which normally take around eight weeks to recover from.

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However, his recovery has been slower than anticipated and he withdrew from Monte Carlo, the Barcelona Open and the Madrid Open this month in order to continue his preparations for the French Open, which begins on May 28.

Toni Nadal says his nephew will be ready for the second Grand Slam of the year and mentions that he could play at the Italian Open, which gets underway on May 8.

"He would like to be competing now, but there is little left for that to happen," Nadal told Radio MARCA.

"He is going to play in Paris, although how he trains in the coming weeks and what he can do in Rome will be important to measure his aspirations there."

• How Alcaraz, Nadal, Djokovic rivalry has been put on ice before French Open
• I think I could beat Nadal at Roland-Garros - Alcaraz

Nadal is only one of four players in the ATP's top 100 who is aged 36 or over, alongside Stanislas Wawrinka, Richard Gasquet and John Isner.

The 62-year-old says Rafa is not thinking about retiring anytime soon.

He said: "He is not thinking about retiring, he just wants to recover well and continue competing because he is passionate about this sport."

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When Rafael Nadal announced last week he would not be playing in Madrid this week, he said in his video on social media: "The injury still hasn't healed and I can't work out what I need to to compete.

"I was training, but now a few days ago we decided to change course a bit, do another treatment and see if things improve to try to get to what comes next.

"I can't give deadlines because if I knew, I would tell you, but I don't know. This is how things are now."

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