Nadal Still Injured Ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics

Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal has a thigh injury that puts his participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics in doubt.

That was revealed by Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya when the 14-time French Open champion was scheduled to play in singles and doubles with rising tennis star and fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros.

“He felt uncomfortable yesterday (Wednesday) morning,” Moya said, Friday (7/26/2024).

“In the afternoon his movements became more restricted and before things got worse he decided to stop,” he said.

The 38-year-old Nadal did not practice on Thursday (7/25/2024), which Moya said was “the most responsible thing to do.”

“Don’t push him at the moment and see if he recovers well. We will see his condition tomorrow and Saturday (27/7/2024),” he added.

Nadal returned to tennis this year after a long absence with a hip injury, reaching his first ATP final since winning the 2022 French Open in Bastad last weekend before losing to Portugal’s Nuno Borges.

He is scheduled to face Hungarian tennis player Marton Fucsovics in the first round of singles on Sunday (28/7/2024), a day after partnering Alcaraz in doubles.

If he beats Fucsovics, Nadal could face old rival Novak Djokovic in the second round.

“I can’t guarantee anything, whether he won’t play or will play,” Moya said.

Nadal is a two-time Olympic champion, winning the singles gold medal in Beijing in 2008 and the doubles gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics with Marc Lopez.