Rafael Nadal injury: French Open hopes suffer fresh blow following Rome Masters withdrawal

Rafael Nadal’s hopes of being fit for the French Open have suffered a fresh blow after he announced his withdrawal from the Rome Masters.

Nadal – a 10-time champion of the competition – has not been in action since losing in the Australian Open second round due to a hip injury. He was forced to miss Indian Wells and Miami in the Sunshine Double and has then been absent from the clay-court season too, notably missing events in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.

“I am very sorry to announce that I will not be able to be in Rome,” Nadal tweeted.

“You all know how much it hurts me to miss another one of the tournaments that have marked my professional and personal career for all the love and support of the Italian tifosi.”

Speculation had mounted that Nadal would take part in the tournament after reports that he would have a final medical evaluation to ascertain if he was fit enough for a comeback.

He was not given the go-ahead to compete in Madrid and it appears he is still not ready, and his absence from the sport threatens to break the four-month barrier.

Nadal has a hip flexor injury, which was initially anticipated to keep him out for around two months, but his rehabilitation is now dragging on.

Recent footage of the 36-year-old practising at his academy with relative freedom had caused some optimism that he was ready to compete.

“Currently, we work more or less an hour and a half a day and continue to improve day by day. It is not even a matter of whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, just that you observe the progress every day,” his coach Carlos Moya previously said to French newspaper L’Equipe.

“We are a little sad that he hasn’t played on clay yet,” Moya continued. “He is the worst, but we try to encourage him and are always optimistic. I think it’s an urban legend that Nadal needs a lot of matches to be ready, when he came back from injury he always achieved good results.”

The Rome Masters will be held from 10-21 May.

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