Rafael Nadal turns down wildcard for Bordeaux Challenger ahead of French Open 2023

Former World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has declined a wildcard for the ATP challenger tournament in Bordeaux, which begins next week, ahead of the 2023 French Open.

The Spaniard picked up an abdominal strain during the Australian Open earlier this year, similar to the one he suffered at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. As a result, he was forced to withdraw from the Dubai Tennis Championships as well as the Qatar Open.

He later announced his withdrawal from the Indian Wells and Miami Masters events. This was followed by back-to-back withdrawals from the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open and the Madrid Open.

The southpaw was set to return to the court at the ongoing Italian Open, but earlier in the month, he posted on social media that he would not be participating in Rome either.

Following that, Jean-Baptiste Perlant, the director of the Bordeaux Challenger tournament in France, told L'Equipe that he offered the 22-time Grand Slam winner's agent Carlos Costa a wildcard. However, Costa "kindly" declined the offer as the Spaniard was still preparing for the French Open from his home base in Manacor, Spain, and added that he wasn't ready to participate.

"I offered him (Nadal's agent Carlos Costa) one of the wildcards. He very kindly told me that Nadal was continuing his preparation at home in Manacor, that he was not ready and was in a race against time to be ready for the French Open," Jean-Baptiste Perlant said.

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"All Rafael Nadal fans, and I'm one of them, are worried" - Boris Becker

The Spaniard pictured at the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters - Day Three.

In a recent interview with Eurosport, German tennis legend Boris Becker stated that all Rafael Nadal fans, including himself, are concerned about his situation. He went on to say that if the Spaniard had cancelled clay court tournaments in preparation for the French Open, something "really bad" must have happened.

"All Nadal fans, and I'm one of them, are worried. It happens that he is injured. After his injury in Melbourne, it was said that he would be fit again for the clay-court season. That was not the case. If he cancels the clay-court tournaments in preparation for Roland-Garros, something really bad must have happened," Becker said.

Becker also expressed his hope that the 14-time French Open champion will compete in the upcoming Major at Roland-Garros and that it will not be his last tournament.

"I really hope he can at least compete in Paris. That would at least be good news. A player always has to decide for himself which is his last tournament - and I sincerely hope that for Rafa, it won't be the Roland-Garros tournament this year," the six-time Grand Slam champion said.