Nadal’s French Open Participation in Doubt, Withdraws from Rome Masters 

Rafael Nadal faces a race to be fit in time to launch his bid for a record-extending 15th French Open title.

Nadal has withdrawn from next week’s Italian Open but says his condition has improved as he bids to be fit in time for the French Open.

The 36-year-old Spaniard has not played since January because of a hip injury and says he needs more time to train.

Unless he plays one of the events in Geneva or Lyon starting May 21, the 14-time champion will go to Roland Garros without a match on clay this year.

“I’m very sorry to announce that I will not be able to be in Rome,” he said.

“You all know how much it hurts to miss another one of the tournaments that have marked my professional and personal career for all the love and support of the Italian fans,” the 22-time Grand Slam champion continued in a statement on social media.

“Despite having noticed an improvement in recent days, there have been many months without having been able to train at a high level and the re-adaptation process has its times and I have no choice but to accept them and continue working.”

His statement is considerably more optimistic than his post of two weeks ago when he said he had paused training to consider alternative treatments.

The French Open begins in Paris on 28 May