Rafael Nadal resigns from Indian Wells: "I am not prepared to play at the highest level"

 

The Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal says he does not yet feel ready to return to competition after the muscle injury he suffered in January and leaves the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells 2024, hours before making his debut against the Canadian Milos Raonic. Read the arguments of the 22-time Grand Slam champion here.

Rafael Nadal fans will have to wait a little longer to see him back in action at a major tournament. The Spanish tennis player announced on March 6 that he is resigning from the 2024 Indian Wells Masters 1000 because he still does not feel ready to play at the highest level.

“It is with great sadness that I have to withdraw from this incredible tournament,” Nadal, 37, communicated through his social networks and in a note published by the tournament.

“Everyone knows how much I like this place and how much I like playing here in Indian Wells. That's also one of the reasons why I came very early to the desert to train and try to prepare. “I have been working hard and training and you all know that I took a test this weekend, but I am not prepared to play at the highest level in such an important event,” he explained.

The 14-time Roland Garros winner was scheduled to debut on March 6 against Canadian Milos Raonic. After his exhibition match on March 3 in Las Vegas against compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, the Indian Wells match was going to be his first tournament since the muscle injury he suffered on January 7 in the tournament. Brisbane.

“It is not an easy decision, it is difficult, in fact, but I cannot lie to myself and lie to the thousands of fans. I will miss you all and I am sure that the tournament will be a great success,” concluded the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, after missing one of his favorite tournaments for the second year in a row.

Roland Garros and the Paris Games, Nadal's goals in 2024

Winner at Indian Wells on three occasions, Rafael Nadal intended to return to the competition in the American desert and begin to recover the sensations he lost with the new muscle injury he suffered in Brisbane and which kept him out of the 2024 Australian Open.

As he himself confessed in various interviews, 2024 could be the year of his retirement and, if his body allows it, he wants it to be in style.

Olympic champion in Beijing 2008 (in singles) and in Rio 2026 (in doubles), Nadal dreams of playing one last Olympic Games in Paris, the city that saw him win 14 times at Roland Garros, and trying to win a new French Open , probably also the last one.

Before the Paris event and after giving up the Doha and Indian Wells tournaments, Nadal plans to play the Conde de Godó tournament in Barcelona, which is held at his club.