Rafael Nadal says Olympics the main goal after early Roland Garros defeat

PARIS – Rafael Nadal likened his struggles with injury in the last 18 months to being in a jungle, as the 14-time French Open champion hoped to return to Roland Garros for the Olympic Games after making a premature exit on May 27.

Never far from physical issues in his glittering career, the 37-year-old missed almost all of 2023 with a hip problem and his comeback earlier this season was stalled by a muscle tear, before small niggles affected his preparation for the clay-court Grand Slam.

He crashed to a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 defeat by fourth seed Alexander Zverev – the first time he had fallen in the opening round and only his fourth loss in 116 matches in Paris.

Nadal then admitted he did not know how his battered body would respond to the demands of the Games in July.

“My body has been a jungle for two years. You don’t know what to expect. I wake up one day and I find a snake biting me. Another day a tiger,” said the Spaniard, who turns 38 on June 3.

“I’ve been fighting with all the things that I went through. But the dynamic is positive the last few weeks. I felt ready. I think tomorrow I’ll be ready to play again if I have to.

“Now, I need to prepare myself... to try to be ready for Olympics. I can’t say anything today, but my main goal now is to play the Olympics.”

The 22-time Grand Slam champion will be eyeing his third gold medal after triumphing in singles in the 2008 Beijing Games and doubles eight years later in Rio de Janeiro. The world No. 275 will not make the rankings cut for the Olympics, but would be eligible for a spot reserved for Major winners.

Before his loss to Zverev, he had already expressed doubts about his fitness, but thankfully it did not turn out as badly as he thought it would.

“I felt I was able to move myself much better than in the previous tournaments. But I had a very tough opponent in front of me. He played well,” Nadal added.

“I played at a good level in all ways, comparing to the way I was playing the weeks before. So, happy for that. Of course disappointed to lose, but in terms of body feelings, I’m happy that I finished healthy.”

In his career, he has had to miss 16 Grand Slams. That is certain to become 17 in July, when he is likely to skip Wimbledon, where he was champion in 2008 and 2010.

Nadal explained it would be unwise to prepare for the grass-court season at this stage given his condition.

“It looks difficult to make a transition to grass, having the Olympics again on clay,” he said.

“I need to talk with the team. I need to analyse... But I don’t think it’s going to be smart after all the things that happened to my body to make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back to clay.” REUTERS, AFP