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Rafael Nadal’s comeback has faced another hiccup as the Spaniard pulled out ahead of his Indian Wells first round match, on Thursday. Stating that he isn’t ‘ready to play at the highest level’, the 37-year-old also pulled out earlier from the ATP 250 event in Doha in late February but did play against Carlos Alcaraz in the Netflix Slam exhibition match.
Nadal was out for almost a year due to a hip flexor injury, and returned to action in Brisbane in January, but missed the Australian Open due to injury.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Nadal wrote, “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.”
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“I have been working hard and practicing and you all know I took a test this weekend but I don’t find myself ready to play at the highest level at such an important event. It is not an easy decision, it’s a tough one as a matter of fact but I can’t lie to myself and lie to the thousands of fans. I will miss you all and I am sure the tournament will be a great success”, he further added.
Nadal had travelled to California and even trained Tuesday evening in front of fans. But now he won’t face Milos Raonic and will be replaced by lucky loser Sumit Nagal.
The veteran’s main focus this year could be the Paris Olympics and French Open. It was also echoed by his uncle Toni Nadal, who told AS that he hoped his nephew would play a great role at the Games and at Roland Garros.
