Rafael Nadal has given fans a huge scare ahead of the Olympics.
Rafael Nadal has suffered a new injury setback just before the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics. He was scheduled to compete in his final Summer Games in both the men’s singles and doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.
Their partnership, combining an all-time great with the sport’s newest star, was highly anticipated as one of the highlights at Roland Garros.
However, this could now be in doubt as Nadal, 38, reportedly canceled a practice session on Thursday due to a thigh injury.
According to Metro, the 2008 Beijing gold medalist was seen with his upper leg bandaged just a day before the opening ceremony. This news coincides with the announcement that he would face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the first round of the singles event.
Winning that match would likely set up a major second-round clash with Novak Djokovic. The Serbian has expressed his strong desire to win his first Olympic gold in Paris, one of the few accolades missing from his illustrious career.
In doubles, Nadal and Alcaraz are slated to face the Argentine pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni first. However, there is now widespread speculation about whether the 22-time Grand Slam champion will participate in either event after canceling his training session with Alexander Zverev.
Nadal’s coach, Carlos Moya, told Radioestadio Noche: “It was a setback, and we decided Rafa would rest today and not train to recover. We are giving ourselves 48 hours; we have to wait. The Nadal-Alcaraz doubles is something to fall in love with.”
Nadal skipped Wimbledon this year to focus on being fit for Paris, showing glimpses of form this month by reaching the final of the Bastad Open in Sweden. However, after his final defeat to Nuno Borges, he admitted struggling with the tournament’s physical demands.
Now, organizers are worried about another high-profile withdrawal. Nadal’s injury news comes on the same day that top seed Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune withdrew from the men’s events.
Sinner announced he had been diagnosed with tonsillitis and advised by doctors not to play. Rune, on the other hand, cited a wrist injury as his reason for withdrawing.
Andy Murray, who will retire after the tournament, is also out of the men’s singles. The Scot will compete in the doubles with Dan Evans but has not fully recovered from a back problem that also limited his participation at Wimbledon.
To make matters worse, Polish player Hubert Hurkacz has not recovered from a knee injury sustained at SW19. The world No. 7 stated that although he aimed to be fit for Paris, he is now unlikely to return to action until 2025.