Will Rafael Nadal play at Paris 2024 Olympics or Wimbledon after French Open? When will Nadal retire?
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Updated 19/06/2024 at 08:15 GMT
Rafael Nadal fell at the first hurdle at the French Open - the tournament which he has become synonymous with, tasting glory on a record-breaking 14 occasions. It comes amid another injury-hit year, with the emotional and physical toll ramping up. So, what is next for the great Spaniard? Will he retire? Will he play at Wimbledon? Will he return to Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games?
Top five shots from Zverev's win over Nadal at French Open
The future of Rafael Nadal's professional career has arguably never been more uncertain, following his emotional first-round exit at the French Open.
Nadal is the undisputed king of the clay courts at Roland-Garros, blasting away the competition on the red dirt in Paris a whopping 14 times.
He won his first four titles on the bounce from 2005-2008, before exiting in the fourth round the next year. A further five straight victories came from 2010-2014 as he cemented his status amongst the sport's all-time greats.
His awful battle against injuries began to have a severe impact on his career by this stage, with a quarter-final loss in 2015 followed by a withdrawal through an ongoing wrist problem partway through the 2016 edition.
Despite pulling out of many other tournaments, his resilience to make the tournament in the French capital was remarkable, and he won four crowns in succession from 2017-2020. In 2021, there was a semi-final exit before his last title in 2022.
He missed last year's event through injury, and much of the intervening 12 months. Alexander Zverev was the imposing draw handed to the wild card this time around, with Nadal being dismantled in straight sets, 3-6 5-7 3-6.
It marked only his fourth loss in 116 French Open match-ups. Perhaps most impressively given his fitness record, Nadal has managed to rack up 22 Grand Slam titles - a tally narrowly second to only Novak Djokovic (24) in the all-time rankings.
Over the last 18 months, abdominal and hip injuries, in particular, have plagued his schedule. He has fallen to No. 275 in the world rankings, has not made a final of any description since 2022, and question marks are plentiful over whether he'll play again.
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Will Nadal play at Wimbledon?
The grass-court season will kick off after Roland-Garros wraps up in the next fortnight, and there are plenty of ATP Tour events on the horizon.
However, Nadal is currently regarded as unlikely to compete at any of those across the UK, Germany, Netherlands and Spain. Indeed, he is not confident of an appearance at Wimbledon this year.
It would mark a third absence from the iconic London tournament - one the 37-year-old has twice triumphed in - in four years. He made the semi-finals in the other, as he did in the two years before this run.
In the wake of the Zverev loss, Nadal suggested the impact of switching to grass courts would be too much for his body to handle at this point.
He said: "It looks difficult, honestly. It looks difficult to make the transition to grass, having the Olympics again on clay. I cannot confirm anything, I have to talk with the team to analyse so many facts.
"But I don’t think it’s going to be smart after all the things that happened to my body to make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back immediately to clay. Today I feel that’s not a good idea."
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Will Nadal play at the Olympic Games?
As Nadal hinted at, a return to the Parisian clay is on the horizon with the 2024 Olympic Games. He has twice claimed a gold medal in his career - the 2008 singles in Beijing and the 2016 doubles in Rio de Janeiro.
This time around, there's the tantalising prospect of Nadal teaming up with 21-year-old Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz to form a generation-bridging double-act.
Alcaraz confirmed as recently as this weekend: "If everything goes well, we will play doubles together here [at the Olympics]."
However, Nadal's demoralising defeat may have given him second thoughts. He emotionally continued, post-Zverev: "I cannot tell you if I will be [playing] or not in one month and a half, because my body has been a jungle for two years.
"You don't know what to expect. I wake up one day and I found a snake biting me. Another day, a tiger. It has been a big fight."
Will Nadal retire in 2024?
There has been much conjecture in recent months over whether 2024 will be a farewell tour for Nadal, after he revealed at the end of last year: "It is a reality, there are many chances that it will be my last year without any doubt.
"There are chances that it may only be half a year, there are possibilities it may be a full year, that we may not be able to reach all that. These are things right now I do not have the capacity to be able to answer. This is the truth."
Perhaps surprisingly, an emotional Nadal gave a slightly more positive update after the loss versus Zverev. He said: "If I keep enjoying doing what I am doing and I feel myself competitive and healthy enough to enjoy, I want to keep going for a while.
"I don't know for how long, but I am having fun. I need to give myself a little bit longer chance to see if my level is growing and my body is holding, and then let's make a decision.
"Give me two months until the Olympics, and then let's see if I am able to keep going or I say, 'okay guys, it's more than enough'. Let's see.
"It's a big, big chance that it's going to be my last Roland-Garros, but if I have to tell you it's 100% my last Roland-Garros, sorry, but I will not, because I cannot predict what's going on."
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