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Rafa Nadal and the cost of missing Roland Garros: he will be outside the top 100 for the first time in 20 years

2023-05-18T23:57:43.966Z

Highlights: Rafael Nadal will miss Roland Garros for the first time since making his French Grand Slam debut in 2005. The injury to the iliac psoas of the left leg he suffered in Australia forced him to make the decision to leave the most important tournament of his career. And if he does not compete more this season, he will finish the year almost without points and outside the top 600. The last time Nadal appeared outside that group was in mid-April 2003.


And the drop may be even greater: if he does not compete more this season, he will end the year almost without points and outside the top 600.


Rafael Nadal will miss Roland Garros for the first time since making his French Grand Slam debut in 2005. The injury to the iliac psoas of the left leg he suffered in Australia and from which he still could not fully recover forced him to make the decision to leave the most important tournament of his career, in which he won a record of 14 titles, and to move away from tennis for a few months. to try to become competitive in 2024.

That parate, for now indeterminate, will cost the Mallorcan a lot, if we talk about ranking. By not playing in Paris he will leave the top 100 after more than two decades. And if he does not compete more this season, he will finish the year almost without points and outside the top 600.

Rafa played in this 2023 just two tournaments. He lost the two games he played in the United Cup with the Spanish team and said goodbye in the second round of the "big" Oceanic, in which he was injured. He did not return to the courts. He started the year as number two in the world with 6,020 points and next Monday, when the ranking is updated, he will appear 15th with 2,445. The big fall, likewise, will occur after Paris.

In the French capital, the Spaniard had to defend 2,000 points, which he managed to crown in the last edition with a victory over the Norwegian Casper Ruud. Thus, after that contest, it will be with just 445 units and will be located in the tournament at 135th place. And for the first time in more than 20 years he won't be in the top 100.

The last time Nadal appeared outside that group was in mid-April 2003. In the week of 14 to 20 of that month, as the 109th of the ranking, he surpassed the qualy of Monte Carlo and got into the main draw, the first of his career in a Masters 1000. He reached the knockout stages and lost to Guillermo Coria. And with the 90 points he collected on the Monegasque brick dust, he appeared on Monday 21 in 96th place, breaking the barrier of the top 100 for the first time. He never left that lot again.

The descent of the Mallorcan, winner of 22 "majors" (he shares the record for most titles with Novak Djokovic), will continue after that event if, as he anticipated on Thursday, he does not compete more this season.

It is that in the second half of the year, he will lose another 400 points: 10 of the Masters 1000 of Cincinnati and others as much of the Paris (he fell in both in the debut), 180 of the US Open (eighth final) and 200 of the ATP Finals of Turin (he won only one match in the round robin). It will remain with 45 and will close the year around the 630th position.

You have to go back in time more than 21 years to find it so low in the ranking: on Sunday, April 29, 2002 it was 762nd. The next day, thanks to the 15 units he had achieved the previous week in his first ATP tournament, in Mallorca, which he entered thanks to a wild card and won a match, he climbed to 588°.

Meanwhile, if he extends his period away from the courts and does not compete in Australia 2024, he will also lose those 45 and will be zero, for the first time since September 2001.

Blessed protected ranking

Nadal's goal today is to fully recover from the injury and return to competition. If he does, next year he will have to take advantage of some wild cards (special invitations) or make use of the protected ranking to enter the tournament draws.

What is protected ranking? It is a resource that players who were at least six months away from the courts due to injury and who want to compete again. It is calculated by averaging the positions occupied by the tennis player in the first three months of inactivity and can be used to enter the main draw or the qualy of a contest. It is valid in the first nine tournaments in which the player competes or for a period of nine months from the first event played under that ranking, whichever comes first.

According to that criterion, Nadal would return as the 9th of the ranking, which would give access to the main draw of any tournament he wants to play, from the ATP 250 to the Grand Slams.

See also

Alcaraz's heartfelt message to Rafa Nadal: "Very painful and sad for everyone that you can't be at Roland Garros"

Rafael Nadal begins to look in the mirror of Roger Federer and prepares his farewell to tennis

Rafael Nadal dropped out of Roland Garros and doubts the future of his career: "Everything has a beginning and an end"

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2023-05-18

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