This morning we woke up in Spain with the horrible news of Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from Indian Wells. The Maracorí decided to step aside due to a back contracture that already made him unable to play in conditions the Netflix exhibition in Las Vegas against Carlos Alcaraz.
Already in the retransmission of that duel David Ferrer commented that Nadal suffered some discomfort that clearly have gone to more and that did not let him serve. And we can not say that his evolution is not worrying in 2024 before the most important moment of the season for him: the clay court tour.
Rafa wants to, Rafa tries, but Rafa can't. He wanted to in Brisbane and he couldn't make it to the Australian Open. He wanted to in Brisbane and could not reach the Australian Open. He wanted to in Doha and could not reach Indian Wells. Nadal has never faced in his life a clay tour without having played a tournament on fast court before and, although we assume that he will want to reach Monte-Carlo on April 7, although we know he will try, seen what we do not know if he will be able to.
The problem is not serious. It's a back problem. The real problem is that he keeps having problems. And, if you analyze what is happening to him, it is completely normal. He is 37 years old and has played almost 1300 matches as a professional tennis player. Although he has accumulated 134 million dollars in prize money alone (that figure would have to be tripled counting his various sponsors), he still has the ambition to compete. He does not want to leave without trying again.
However, after spending almost blank 2024 and returning with great enthusiasm in January, different problems keep arising that, although not serious, if they make it very clear that his punished physique is beginning to tell him enough. He has between eyebrows and eyebrow to reach Roland Garros and deserves to play it in decent conditions. To do so, he needs to avoid recurrence of the Brisbane or this week's back problems.
When he returns home to Manacor he will be able to evaluate exactly what has happened to him and what the next plan is. Here at TennisUpToDate we always said that the best thing for him and his physique was to focus on clay and leave hard court aside. Now he has no choice. Will he make it to Paris in June?
It is with great sadness that I have to withdraw from this amazing tournament at Indian Wells. Everyone knows how much I love this place and how much I love to play here. That’s also one of the reasons why I came very early to the desert to practice and try to get ready.
