“Every day the MRI image is a little bit worse”, said Nadal, the only man to have won the same grand slam title nine times.
Advertisement
Paris: Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal sensationally quit the French Open with a left wrist injury on Friday as Andy Murray cruised into the last-16.
This is the latest setback the 29-year-old has suffered in an injury-plagued career.
Men’s fifth seed Kei Nishikori saw off Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in five sets to move into a last-16 clash with ninth seed Gasquet while Murray will face John Isner after the American beat Teymuraz Gabashvili.
As for Nadal, struggling to contain his emotions and carrying a blue cast on his wrist, it is a devastating blow as his body becomes increasingly uncooperative just short of his 30th birthday.
Nadal was projected to play Novak Djokovic a week from today in the French Open semifinals.
He knows he’ll have his own work cut out for him against Murray, a two-time major champion who has won all five of their previous matchups.
Raonic will face Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the fourth round on Sunday after the Spainard outlasted No. 23-seed American Jack Sock, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in four hours and 11 minutes.
Garbine Muguruza (Esp) bt Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) 6-3 6-0, Simona Halep (Rou) bt Naomi Osaka (Jpn) 4-6 6-2 6-3, Irina-Camilia Begu (Rou) bt Annika Beck (Ger) 6-4 2-6 6-1, Shelby Rogers (USA) bt Petra Kvitova (Cze) 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-0, Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Lucie Safarova (Cze) 6-3 6-7 (0-7) 7-5.
The Spaniard’s hastily convened news conference which caught everyone on the hop cast a pall over the tournament, especially after 17-times grand slam champion and 2009 French victor Roger Federer withdrew last week due to a back injury.
“It’s obvious that if it’s not Roland Garros, I will probably not take risks on playing the first two days, but is the most important event of the year for me so we tried our best”.
He said he got an anesthetic injected into his wrist before his second round match. “I’m here to announce that I have to retire from the tournament because I have a problem in my wrist that I have had a couple of weeks”.
Tournament director Guy Forget expressed his sadness at Nadal’s misfortune.
When Forget got a phone call from a member of Nadal’s entourage, he knew for certain something was wrong.
Nadal was due to play Marcel Granollers in the third round on Saturday.
“It’s unfortunate for the tournament, for the fans, for tennis”, the Swiss said. I practised with him before the tournament and his wrist was strapped heavily, ‘ he said. “So I think he made the right decision”. “Unfortunately, what counts now is health”. There was no hint of injury, and there had been no indication in the lead up tournament inRome or indeed Madrid where Nadal says he first discovered the problem.
Nadal however, hoped he would be fit to play at Wimbledon next month.
Advertisement
“Today is one of the toughest press conferences of my career”. Please see our terms of service for more information. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties.
