By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday May 5, 2023
Rafael Nadal will miss next week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome due to his lingering left hip injury.
The Spaniard, who has not played since the second round of the Australian Open, suffered a grade 2 left hip flexor injury during his second round loss to Mackenzie McDonald in Melbourne.
The original prognosis was for a 6-8 week recovery but Nadal’s timeline has lagged behind. He announced the news on social media on Friday.
“I am very sorry to announce that I will not be able to be in Rome,” he wrote on Twitter. “You all know how much it hurts me to miss another of the tournaments that have marked my professional and personal career for all the love and support of the Italians.”
Nadal is holding out hope that he will be ready for Roland-Garros, which begins on Sunday May 28.
If he does play Roland-Garros without any matches on clay, it will mark the first time that Nadal has played the French Open without a previous match on clay that season. Nadal first played Roland-Garros in 2005, winning the title on his debut.
He owns a 112-3 lifetime record on the terre battue at Port d'Auteuil, and has won a record 14 titles.
“Despite having noticed an improvement in recent days, there have been many months without having been able to train at a high level and the readaptation process has its times and I have no choice but to accept them and continue working,” he said.