Will we see Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament again? It won’t be in 2024 in any case. The 38-year-old Spaniard withdrew this Wednesday evening from the US Open, the last Major of the season (August 26-September 8).
“I don’t think I’ll be able to be 100% this time,” the Majorcan explained on X, without giving any indication of whether or not he will continue his career after his already confirmed participation in the Laver Cup, while the question of his retirement has been raised for months. The Laver Cup is an event created in 2017 at the initiative of Roger Federer. It was there that the Swiss played the last match of his career, a doubles with Rafael Nadal, in 2022.
The Laver Cup and that’s it?
The 38-year-old Spaniard has just played in the Olympic Games in Paris, where he lost clearly in the second round against future Olympic champion Novak Djokovic, then in the quarter-finals of the doubles, partnered with Carlos Alcaraz, against the American duo Ram-Krajicek. Hampered by a thigh problem, he had been uncertain until the day before the tournament and did not play at full physical strength.
After his elimination in singles, he had declared that he would make “the necessary decisions after the Olympics (…) relying above all on (his) desires and (his) feelings”. Injured at the Australian Open in January 2023, the winner of 22 Grand Slam tournaments, including four US Opens, was away from the courts for almost a year and has never regained his former level since due to a succession of physical problems and forfeits. He is 159th in the latest world ranking.
Hi all, writing today to let you guys know that I have decided not to compete at this year’s US Open a place where I have amazing memories.
I will miss those electric and special night sessions in NYC at Ashe, but I don’t think I would be able to give my 100% this time.
Thanks… pic.twitter.com/FluGRWUzIp— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) August 7, 2024
After his elimination in the first round of Roland-Garros in June by the German Alexander Zverev, he had however mentioned a possible last appearance in 2025 in his favorite tournament (14 victories). “Obviously if I feel that I am no longer competitive and that I do not have the capacity to become so again, I will make the decision to stop,” he had assured at the time.
