Rafael Nadal unexpectedly announces he has withdrawn from French Open with a wrist injury
Rafael Nadal announced in an unexpected press conference on Friday from Roland Garros that he has withdrawn from the French Open due to a wrist injury.
Nadal, who has won the tournament a record nine times, cruised through his first two rounds of the tournament earlier this week, looking healthy and confident. However, he revealed on Friday that he played his second-round match with an injection to mask the pain in the wrist of his left hand (his racket hand).
"We tried to do all the treatments possible, every single day, working so hard to try and play," Nadal said. "Yesterday I played with an injection in the wrist with an antiseptic to [numb] the wrist to play."
At his press conference, wearing a wrap around his wrist, Nadal said that pain in his left wrist had increased and and that he was withdrawing because did not want to risk tearing his wrist, a more serious injury.
Nadal's early exit presents a massive opportunity for world no. 1 Novak Djokovic. Djokovic has never won the French Open, and with Roger Federer and Nadal both now out of the draw, the biggest challenge standing between Djokovic and the Career Grand Slam will be Andy Murray.