PARIS-. Rafael Nadal returned on Monday to Roland Garros to train and determine if you are fit to compete in the French Openthe Grand Slam tournament of which he is the record holder with 14 titles.
The 37-year-old Spanish star held a press event late in the afternoon with his coach, Carlos Moyá. He played without demanding too much on the Philippe-Chatrier court that was open to the public.
Around 6,000 fans flocked to Roland Garro’s center court and cheered Nadal as he took to the red clay.
After training, which lasted approximately an hour and a half, Nadal signed autographs and then disappeared through the tunnel that leads to the locker room.
Monday’s practice allowed Nadal to take the pulse of the Roland Garros surface, where he has not played in two years, and test his physical condition.
The competition starts on Sunday and it has not yet been confirmed if Nadal will compete.
He is looking to get back in shape after missing almost all of 2023 after undergoing surgery for a hip injury. He also hasn’t played much this season due to hip and abdominal muscle discomfort.
His recent loss in his second match at the Italian Open — 6-1, 6-3 to Hubert Hurkacz — left the 22-time Grand Slam champion with doubts about competing in Paris.
“If I have to say which way I lean, it is to try to play it and give my best,” Nadal said a week and a half ago. “I couldn’t not play the most important tournament of my life.”
Nadal has not yet definitively confirmed whether he will compete in the French Open, where he would enter the final draw with a protected ranking. The expectation is that this will be the Mallorcan’s last year on the tour, and therefore the farewell to the tournament in which he has shone the most. .
He captured Roland Garros for the 22nd major title of his career, the second most in history — behind Novak Djokovic’s 24.
Nadal missed the French Open because of his hip.
