Rafael Nadal undergoes hip surgery in Barcelona, results expected on his birthday

Rafael Nadal underwent arthroscopic surgery to check his left psoas muscle on Friday, June 2.

Nadal has been out of action since the Australian Open, where he picked up the troublesome hip injury. The former World No. 1's movement was clearly restricted in Melbourne, where he made a second-round exit, his earliest at any Grand Slam tournament since 2016.

While an MRI exam later revealed the extent of the injury, he was initially expected to return to action in two months' time. The Monte-Carlo Masters in March was expected to be his comeback tournament, but it wasn't to be.

The Spaniard skipped that tournament and a few others, leading to his withdrawal from the French Open last week. This is the first time he isn't competing in Paris since 2004.

Nadal's PR team has confirmed that Dr. Philippon, Dr. Vilaro, and Dr. Ruiz-Cotorro have performed the surgery in Barcelona, with results expected on Saturday, June 3, which also happens to be his 37th birthday.

"Nadal currently undergoing arthroscopic surgery to check the left psoas muscle that has had him out of competition since January, conducted in Barcelona by Dr. Philippon, Dr. Vilaro and Dr. Ruiz-Cotorro," the PR team said in a statement.

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Rafael Nadal takes an indefinite tennis break, hints at retirement in 2024

Rafael Nadal held a press conference at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, Mallorca, where he announced his withdrawal from the 2023 French Open.

He spoke about his struggles with his injuries in recent months. The Spaniard also stated he was indefinitely putting a stop to his tennis career to focus on recovery.

“I was working as much as possible for the last four months. It has been very difficult because we have not been able to find the solution to the problem I had in Australia. My position is to stop. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to come back to the practice court. Maybe two months, maybe one month and a half, maybe three months, maybe four months,” he said.

While stating his desire to return to action after fully recovering from the injury issues, Nadal also confessed that 2024 could be his last year on the ATP tour.

“My goal, my ambition is to try to stop to give myself an opportunity to enjoy next year that’s probably gonna be my last year in the professional tour. That’s my idea, even if I can’t say 100 percent that’s gonna be like this because you never know what’s gonna happen,” he added.

Nadal has played just four matches this year. He represented Spain at the inaugural United Cup, where he lost to Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur.

Later, at the Australian Open, he defeated Jack Draper before losing to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round.