Rafael Nadal is just over two months away from finishing an incredible 18 consecutive years inside the top 10 of the ATP rankings. This is something no other guy in tennis history has ever done. The 22-time Grand Slam winner will miss a lot of tour-level activity, though. His extraordinary record could end before he reaches the 18-year mark.
Rafael Nadal is now recovering from a “Grade 2 injury” to the iliopsoas, a muscle located inside the hip. The Spaniard verified the injury’s average recovery time of 6-8 weeks shortly after his early exit from the Australian Open. Given the duration of the healing process, Nadal’s absence from the tour due to the left hip injury is anticipated to last at least until the conclusion of the Indian Wells Masters. Because he has a lot of points to defend in both Indian Wells and the Dubai Tennis Championships. The World No. 6 is likely to miss both events.
Despite not participating in the Dubai Open last year, he had already stated his intention to do so. This year he defend the 500 ranking points he earned by participating in the Acapulco Open. He’ll undoubtedly lose those 500 points now. He also made the Indian Wells final the previous year. Nadal will drop 600 points next month for skipping the 2024 tournament. Also Read: Arbaaz Khan plays Tennis as Roger Federer in an Ad, Social Media goes Beserk
Indians Wells to Witness Nadal’s Strokes
The Miami Open, which starts the week following Indian Wells, is the most likely date for Nadal to make his comeback to the tour. His participation in Miami, meanwhile, is still quite unlikely. Because the clay court season is due to start immediately after Miami. This may make the 36-year-old hesitant to make a return.
The Spanish legend is forced to make a difficult decision. Since the more events he misses, the more his top-10 streak is in jeopardy. Even before the claycourt season starts, Nadal, who is now ranked No. 6 after losing in the second round of the Australian Open as the defending champion, might drop out of the top 10 for the first time since April 2005.
Rafael Nadal is even more at risk because the four players who are now ranked behind him. Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Holger Rune, and Hubert Hurkacz, are all within 1,000 ranking points of the 36-year-old. If he does return at the start of the clay season, the Monte Carlo Masters will be his first match. The tournament will commence on 9th April.
The French Open: A Chance To Bounce Back For Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal’s 18-year streak of remaining in the top 10 of the ATP rankings is seriously in jeopardy, but on the plus side, he has a fantastic opportunity of quickly moving back up the rankings. The Spaniard prefers clay over any other surface, and this time, as the French Open approaches—a tournament he won for the 14th time last year—he has relatively few ranking points to protect.
Twelve-time Barcelona Open champion and 11-time Monte Carlo Masters champion skipped both competitions in 2017 owing to rib injuries. Later, he suffered losses in the Italian Open Round of 16 and the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, both of which he has won a record 10 times. Before the Paris Grand Slam, he only has 270 points in total to defend.
The native of Mallorca will bet on his prospects at each of those events if he fully recovers from his hip injury in time for the entire claycourt season and so returns to the top 10 before defending his Roland Garros crown.
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