Rafael Nadal will not compete at the 2023 Italian Open in Rome as the injury struggles continue for him.
It's been quite some time since tennis fans had a chance to see Nadal competing on the ATP Tour. No one knows how well is the Spaniard doing, but after he was forced to pull out of the Madrid Open, the 36-year-old withdrew also from the 2023 Italian Open in Rome.
The ATP 1000 tournament in the Italian capital starts on May 10th, and it's one of the tournaments where Nadal triumphed 10 or more times, with exactly ten titles to his name. But another one won't come in 2023.
The Spaniard, who has been away from the ATP Tour since the Australian Open, will now want to fully focus on the 2023 Roland Garros, the only tournament that will matter for him this season. He announced the withdrawal on social media, stating:
"I am very sorry to announce that I will not be able to be in Rome. 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."
Despite Nadal's injury woes not going anywhere, he's still considered to be one of the favourites in Paris, especially, because he managed to win the tournament 14 times. However, this year it will be different.
The 36-year-old will come to his kingdom without any match played on clay this season, and even though he's preparing for quite some time already, it seems that he's still not fully fit and the clock is ticking for the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
The 2023 Roland Garros starts on May 28th and it will either see a fight for the 23rd major title between Rafael Nadal and his biggest rival Novak Djokovic, or a battle of stars for a clay-court Grand Slam as Carlos Alcaraz seems to be the biggest favourite to win.
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