Will Rafael Nadal play at the French Open 2023?
All the latest news about Rafael Nadal's French Open status.
Centre Court, strawberries and cream; Rod Laver Arena and overly-partisan crowds; and Roland Garros and Rafael Nadal. Some pairings are just meant to be.
Spanish megastar Nadal has won a frankly outrageous total of 14 French Open titles, including his first in 2005 and most recent last year in 2022.
However, as the second Grand Slam of the year approaches, the unthinkable reality has dawned on the tennis world: Rafael Nadal is only human.
The 36-year-old has featured in the last 18 editions of the tournament, winning 14 of them and reaching the quarter-finals in all but two of them. The notion of a Nadal-free French Open has been unfathomable since 2004.
News reports have circulated around the fitness and ability of Nadal to play at his beloved Slam, and we're on hand to bring you all the details from a press conference where Nadal announced his future.
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Will Rafael Nadal play at the French Open 2023?
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the French Open 2023 during a press conference in Spain.
This will be the first French Open sans Nadal since his winning debut at the tournament in 2005.
Nadal suffered a hip injury in January 2022. His last match was a shock second round defeat to Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open.
Further still, Nadal said he intends to take more time away from practice courts to rest and recover, effectively ruling himself out of Wimbledon.
He expects a return to the ATP Tour by the end of the year and into 2024, but intends to retire after next year.
Nadal was expected to be fit for at least some of the clay-court season, but the Barcelona, Madrid and Italian Open tournaments all passed him by.
The most telling sign of Nadal's current status is that he declined a wildcard place at the Bordeaux Challenger, essentially a French Open warm-up competition.
Video footage also emerged last week appearing to show Nadal in discomfort during a practice session.
How to watch French Open 2023 on TV and live stream
The French Open 2023 runs from Monday 22nd May 2023 until Sunday 11th June 2023.
The tournament will be shown across Eurosport platforms in the UK.
Eurosport 1 and 2 will boast wall-to-wall coverage of the tournament each day as the rounds progress.
You can stream every match of the French Open 2023 live and on-demand on discovery+.
The discovery+ Entertainment & Sport plan is available for £6.99 a month or £59.99 per year.
You can also add discovery+ Entertainment & Sport to your Amazon Prime Video account by signing up for the service as an add-on.
If you’re looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our Sport hub for all the latest news.
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