Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back in 2024 to play tennis regularly, but that hasn't quite happened so far.
The Spaniard missed much of last year due to a hip injury that required surgery, but he did return earlier this year in Australia. He played a few matches, winning two of them and losing one before he withdrew from the Australian Open due to another injury.
That was the last time anybody expected it to happen, but it happened, and Nadal was out again, for a while. He returned at the Netflix Slam against Carlos Alcaraz, which went well, but then he withdrew from the Indian Wells Open.
That also wasn't in his plans, especially since it was due to yet another injury. None of those injuries are major, of course, but if he gets injured every time he plans a comeback, then he's in trouble.
At the moment, the 22-time major winner seems to be in major trouble because he shared a grim message with fans after announcing that he was pulling out of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Nadal admitted that his body doesn't allow him to play, and and that's a worry for Carlos Alcaraz. He had a dream of playing with Nadal at the Olympics later this year, which are played on the iconic Roland Garros courts.
That seems very unlikely right now, but Nadal still has a few months to recover to play on the courts where he won 14 Grand Slam titles. He promised to try, and Alcaraz hopes that they will get to play.
"At the moment, I don’t know anything about his condition, or how he’s doing. Obviously, as a Spaniard and a tennis player, I’m worried about that. Let’s see how he and I get there, in the end there are still four months left. Anything can happen, but I hope it can happen."