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Spanish tennis great Nadal undergoes arthroscopic procedure to check lower back muscle

Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Jun 2 (EFE).- Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal underwent an arthroscopic procedure on Friday to check the injured left psoas muscle that has kept him out of competition since the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, his team said in a statement.

The surgery was performed in Barcelona by a team of three doctors – Marc Philippon, Jaume Vilaro and Angel Ruiz-Cotorro. On Saturday, Nadal’s 37th birthday, they will announce the results and provide more information about the player’s condition.

Nadal has only played four matches thus far in 2023, losing to Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie and Australia’s Alex de Minaur at the United Cup in Sydney and then defeating Great Britain’s Jack Draper in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne before falling to American Mackenzie McDonald in the second round.

The Spaniard announced the injury after that defeat and, although he trained in recent months in hopes of being able to compete on clay at the French Open, has not played a competitive match since mid-January.

He was first unable to play two ATP Tour Masters 1000 hard-court events in March in Indian Wells, California, and Miami and then missed a series of big clay-court events in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome.

Then on May 18 he announced that his injury had not healed to the extent that he would have hoped and that he would have to miss the year’s second Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, which he has won a record 14 times and is currently being held at Stade Roland Garros in Paris.

“I haven’t recovered as I would’ve liked from the injury I suffered. The goals I set along the way weren’t met, and Roland Garros became impossible. Considering what that tournament means to me, you can imagine how difficult this is. I don’t plan to be playing in the coming months,” the “King of Clay” said then at his tennis academy on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca.

Nadal is co-holder of the record for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles (22) along with arch-rival Novak Djokovic, although the Serbian great could take sole possession of first place if he lifts the winner’s trophy in Paris on June 11.

EFE

pcl/mc

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