OPINION | Rafael Nadal should ditch full calendar and only play clay in Paris Olympic Games lead up after injury scare

Today we woke up with the sad news of Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from the next Australian Open. He suffered a micro-tear during his match against Jordan Thompson in Brisbane that will prevent him from being able to be at the start of the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne next Sunday, January 14.

Nadal's team always talked about Roland Garros as the main objective of his 2024 after spending almost all of 2023 in white. The plan was to start in Brisbane, get some rhythm in the Australian Open, and then focus on clay.

The truth is that we do not know if they had planned for him to play Indian Wells only or also to go to Miami. After what happened in Brisbane, I sincerely believe that Rafa should focus on the clay court season and leave aside the possibility of going to the United States to play the Masters 1000.

We assume that Nadal will now quietly recover from his injury in Mallorca and could return to compete in February in tournaments such as Buenos Aires (12-18) or Rio de Janeiro (19-25). The problem in March indeed is that there is no alternative ATP calendar to Miami and Indian Wells and we assume that Nadal will try to continue to get into a rhythm before facing the start of the traditional spring clay tour starting on April 7 in Monte Carlo.

We'll see what happens, but for Nadal's battered physique to put two tournaments together on a hard court before the clay season does not seem the most logical decision. The primary objective should be (and always has been) to arrive in top form at Roland Garros (May 26) and the Paris Games (July 27). For that, the smartest thing on his part would be to skip the American tour now and the grass tour including Wimbledon after Roland Garros (there Nadal will have to determine whether it is more important for him to try to win at the All England Club again or another Olympic Gold). Anyway, there is a long way to go;

So far, after Brisbane, the good news is that we have seen a Rafael Nadal with a high tennis level, with an improved backhand and a brutal serve that has been practicing during his long injury. The bad news, obviously, is that he will have to stop, but after a year in blank to think of doing 3 matches on hard court at maximum demand and not resent is almost a utopia;

We will see what happens....