Rafael Nadal announced on Saturday—his 37th birthday—that he underwent successful surgery in his bid to make a healthy return to competitive tennis.
The procedure focused on Nadal's left psoas tendon, an injury that has kept him out of action since the Australian Open, as well the labrum of his left hip, where he had a previous issue. In a Twitter post written in Spanish, Nadal said he will began a progressive rehab process immediately and shared an estimated recovery time of five months.
The Spaniard, who had the surgery on Friday in Barcelona, was unable to defend his Roland Garros title due to the injury to his psoas muscle, which stretches from the lower spine through the groin area. A record 14-time champion at the clay-court Grand Slam, Nadal had not missed the French Open since 2004. The following year, he won the 2005 Paris title in his tournament debut.
When he announced that he would miss Roland Garros, Nadal said that his goal is to return for a farewell season in 2024, which he said will likely be his last.
On Sunday, Ángel Ruiz Cotorro—one of three doctors who were present at the operation—said that the operation was done after more conservative options were exhausted. Ruiz Cotorro also said that Nadal's recovery has a "high chance of success," as quoted on ATPTour.com.
