Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev have responded following Rafael Nadal’s emotional press conference. The 14-time French Open champion announced that he had pulled out of this year’s tournament and also admitted that 2024 would likely be his final year on the tour.
Nadal gave a lengthy press conference at his academy in Mallorca on Thursday, confirming that it would be “impossible” to play the upcoming French Open as he continued to recover from the psoas injury he picked up in Australia four months ago. The former world No 1 also said he would be sidelined for several months as he looked to return in 2024 – claiming it would likely be his final year on tour.
Two of his rivals have now responded, as Alcaraz shared his wish to see Nadal healthy for his farewell. Medvedev was also confronted with the news following his quarter-final victory in Rome and admitted it opened up the French Open draw.
“Good luck Rafael!” soon-to-be world No 1 Alcaraz tweeted. “Very painful and sad for everyone that you can’t be at Roland Garros or play more this year, but I hope that 2024 will be a great season for you and that you can say goodbye like the great champion you are!”
Medvedev also gave his reaction after defeating Yannick Hanfmann 6-2 6-2 in the quarter-final of the Italian Open. With the win, the world No 3 advanced to his first semi-final on the clay since Barcelona 2019, and he remarked that the French Open draw would now be wide open.
A former Grand Slam champion at the US Open, Medvedev was informed that Nadal pulled out of Roland Garros and said 2024 may be his last year on the tour. “Well, first of all, I guess it’s the first Roland Garros in whatever, I don’t know, 10 years where there is no Rafa and probably out of this 10 he won it nine, eight times,” the 27-year-old responded.
“So I think it opens the possibility for many players, you know, because even if he would not be let’s call it 100 per cent physically, but he would decide to play, he would be a favourite for sure.”
Turning his attention to Nadal’s planned farewell tour in 2024, he added: “So yeah, hopefully, he can come back as fast as possible because he’s an amazing player, amazing athlete, one of the best in the history.
“Then we can argue about this, but yeah, hopefully he can come back, play some more Slams as long as he can and we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes.” It comes after Nadal said it would be “impossible” to play the upcoming French Open.
“I won’t be able to play at Roland Garros. It’s not a decision I made, it’s a decision my body made,” he said. Looking to the end of his career, he added: “I want to play in 2024, which should be the last year of my career. I want to be able to enjoy it and to say goodbye to tournaments that I want.”
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