Rafael Nadal will not be playing at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters and his uncle, Toni Nadal, explained reasons behind it.
When the Spanish player missed the 2023 season, all eyes focused on his 2024 campaign, and when it started with back-to-back victories in Brisbane, things were looking perfectly well for Nadal.
Then, he re-injured himself in a match against Jordan Thompson, and since then, it's been the same sad story that fans were used to in 2023, with the 22-time major winner withdrawing from one tournament after the other.
While the Spaniard's withdrawals from hard-court tournaments never raised much suspicion, as it was expected that he would be focusing on the clay-court part of the season, his Monte-Carlo Masters withdrawal scared many, especially given the emotional statement that he wrote to announce it.
The 37-year-old's uncle, Toni Nadal, who has coached Rafa for the majority of his career, often offers a lot of insight into his recovery process, and also now, speaking to EFE, Uncle Toni explained that the main problem is the serving.
"Especially when it comes to serving because he has no problem with anything else when he trains."
According to Toni Nadal, his nephew doesn't have a problem with any other part of his game, which could be seen as a positive, but he also reminds that if the former world no. 1 wants to do well at the Roland Garros, he will need to play an ATP event prior to that.
"Either you go one hundred percent or better not to participate. You need play a previous tournament to be able to have a good Roland Garros."
Further development surrounding Nadal will be closely followed, but he doesn't have a lot of time to recover. After the Monte-Carlo Masters, which is played from April 7th to 14th, the other tournaments follow fast, with the Barcelona Open being played from April 15th to 21st, and the Madrid Open starting on April 24th.