Rafael Nadal's destiny is linked to French Open, says Amelie Mauresmo

Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from the 2023 French Open has left the entire tennis world dejected, including the tournament director and former player Amelie Mauresmo. Empathizing with the legendary player, Mauresmo expressed her wish to see the Spaniard play in Paris one more time before retiring.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion on Thursday, May 18, announced that he was yet to regain his fitness and was going to miss out on this year's Roland Garros for the first time since 2004.

Nadal's extraordinary dominance in the tournament can be judged by the fact that he has won the title 14 times in 18 attempts, with a 112-3 record. He withdrew after the second round in 2016 due to a wrist injury.

In a statement released on the Roland Garros website, Amelie Mauresmo stated that she was feeling sorry for the player as well as fans who will miss seeing Nadal in action on Court Philippe-Chatrie.

"I am extremely disappointed for Rafael Nadal, who is forced to give up Roland Garros, his favorite tournament," Mauresmo said. "I am also disappointed for the public at Porte d'Auteuil as well as for all tennis fans, who will be deprived this year of this immense champion."

The two-time Major winner from France added that she realized how hard it must have been for Nadal to make the decision and wished him to make a comeback in the next edition.

"Rafael Nadal, whose destiny is intimately linked to that of the Roland-Garros tournament, which he won fourteen times, will obviously be greatly missed," she said. "But at this moment, I think of him first and imagine the pain and sadness he must feel after having to make such a decision. It must have been heartbreaking."

"We now hope that he recovers as soon as possible so that we can see him quickly tread the tennis courts and find him again next year at Roland Garros," she added.

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Rafael Nadal: "Mental health must be trained"

2023 United Cup

In his press conference at his tennis academy, Rafael Nadal weighed in on the importance of mental health, saying that everyone must immediately seek help upon facing issues.

"I don't pretend to be exemplary, I do the things that I think are well done and right from my ethics," he said. "I don't want to be an example of stopping too soon. I think we become mentally weak, one must remedy when one has mental problems, diseases. One must work with professionals to solve them. Mental health must be trained."

Nadal picked up a hip injury at the 2023 Australian Open in January and hasn't played since. His record for the season currently stands at 1-3.