Rafael Nadal makes very sad admission about his Slam chances after surgery

09/18/2023 02:54 PM

Rafael Nadal confirms his goal is to return to tennis but also adds that he is not expecting to win the Australian Open or French Open as he admits that might be "impossible" considering his current situation. Nadal, 37, sustained an injury to his psoas muscle at this year's Australian Open and he hasn't played since. After being forced to miss this year's French Open, Nadal surgically addressed his psoas injury. Nadal is targeting to be ready for the start of the 2024 season but returning at 37 after surgery and being out for a year wouldn't be easy for anyone, not even for an all-time great like Nadal. “I want to be back on the court and compete but I’m not expecting/hoping to come back and win Roland Garros and Australia. That looks like very far away, even if not impossible," Nadal said on Movistar Plus+.

Nadal. “I wanna be back on court and compete but I’m not expecting/hoping [‘ilusion’ is a word without correct translation] to comeback and win Roland Garros and Australia. That looks like very far away, even if not impossible.”

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) September 18, 2023

Nadal was initially scheduled to miss just six to eight weeks but he then suffered several setbacks in his recovery. In early June, Nadal decided to surgically repair his psoas muscle. After the surgery was completed, Nadal announced the doctors told him the estimated recovery for him was five months. "Hello everyone. As you know last night I had surgery. Everything went well and the arthroscopy was on the left psoas tendon that has kept me out of competition since January. An old injury to the labrum of my left hip was also regularized, which will surely help the better evolution of the tendon. I want to thank doctors Marc Philippon, Jaume Vilaró and Angel Ruiz-Cotorro for their work. I will start progressive functional rehabilitation immediately and the normal recovery process they tell me is 5 months, if all goes well. Once again thank you for all the support you have shown me and that you show me every day. Today also on my birthday. Not in the desired or dreamed place, although THANK YOU anyway," Nadal announced on June 3rd.