by Guillaume Baraise
rolandgarros.com
April 29, 2024

For the second time in two years, injury has stripped Rafael Nadal of the chance to challenge for the French Open. A damaged elbow forced the Spanish prodigy to withdraw from the 2003 tournament, and now a stress fracture in his left foot means he will have to sit out this year�s event.

Nadal sustained the injury during his recent three-set victory over Richard Gasquet in Estoril. [Ed note: Actually it was sustained in the prior match against Goran Ivanisevic.] It was not the first time he hurt himself playing against Gasquet, a fact that has prompted many observers to point to the uncanny parallels between the two players. Both were born in June 1986, and both shot to international fame following surprise wins in the Monte-Carlo Masters (Gasquet beat Franco Squillari in 2002, and Nadal upset Albert Costa in 2003). Another similarity is that both are accompanied on the circuit by a member of their family (Richard by his father Francis, Rafael by his uncle Toni).

The first time they played each other was at the Saint-Jean-de-Luz Challenger, when the man from Majorca was forced to retire after damaging his left thigh. The second meeting was the recent one in Estoril which resulted in the stress fracture that has put paid to Nadal�s plans for Roland Garros.

No Olympics either

The injury is so bad that Nadal will not only miss out on the clay-court season and the Paris showpiece, but will also have to cancel his trip to this summer�s Olympics. [Ed note: Although Rafael is expected to return to play before the Olympics, his injury has prevented him from obtaning the necessary points to qualify for the Olympics.] The Spaniard�s absence from Roland Garros is particularly regrettable as he would have been a real dark horse for outright victory. Ranked 34th in the world, he this year reached the Final in Auckland and got to the third round of the Australian Open before losing narrowly to Lleyton Hewitt. In Miami, he beat defending champion Roger Federer and two months ago he was a Davis Cup hero for his country when he defeated Radek Stepanek in the decisive fifth rubber of the Czech Republic � Spain first round tie. He will undoubtedly be greatly missed at Roland Garros.