According to the Spanish media, tennis player Rafael Nadal will not start at this year’s Roland Garros. He should announce it this afternoon at a press conference at his tennis academy in Mallorca. The 14-time champion has not missed the Paris tournament even once since his debut in 2005.
The 36-year-old Spaniard, who won a record 22 Grand Slam titles during his career, has an impressive record of 112 wins and only three defeats in 18 starts at Roland Garros. Last year he won the trophy on his favorite clay despite chronic foot problems.
In this season, Nadal was ruled out by health problems right at the beginning. He was knocked out in the second round at the Australian Open in January and has been recovering from an injury to his left hip ever since.
Nadal was supposed to announce his next plans for this season at today’s press conference. According to the newspaper AS, the Spanish star will finish the season, but he will not say goodbye to his career just yet.
Roland Garros starts on May 28. If Nadal does not defend 2,000 points from last year’s victory at the tournament, he will drop from 14th place to around 120th in the world rankings. For the first time since March 24, 2003, he would fall out of the top 100 of the ATP ranking.
