Nadal quits Barcelona Open

Nadal shared information on Instagram on April 13, saying that he was not ready to compete. He wrote: "Barcelona has always been a special prize for me. Playing at home feels unique. But right now I am still preparing for a comeback. Good luck to my friend David Ferrer and the team. lucky".

Former world number three David Ferrer is the Director of the Barcelona Open. He shared excitedly about Nadal's plan to return to Barcelona two weeks ago. Until April 13, Spanish newspaper Marca still reported that Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz would return to the court in Barcelona after a period of convalescence.

Without Nadal, the Barcelona Open includes names such as Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner. World number one Novak Djokovic selected to attend the ATP 250 tournament in Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Sources close to the site say Nadal failed his final fitness test before leaving for Barcelona. He has been out of action since January to treat a hip injury. During this time, "King of Clay" fell out of the top 10 in the world and withdrew from a series of important tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo.

According to Marca, Nadal has been absent since January 19 and initially the medical team expected him to be absent for six to eight weeks. With the withdrawal from the Barcelona Open, Nadal's weeks off has doubled. This newspaper predicts the 22 Grand Slam owner to return at the Madrid Masters. This is the event Nadal attended last year after an injury break, before going to Rome and winning Roland Garros.

Nadal will turn 37 years old on June 3, the time of Roland Garros. He won 14 times in Paris in 22 Grand Slams.