Nadal is not sure about the return date

"I don't know, how can I know," Nadal answered on March 2 the question about the time of his return, when he attended the semi-final first leg of the King's Cup between Real and Barca.

The 22 Grand Slam owner said he will return when fully fit and this takes a lot of patience. Nadal said: "Unfortunately I got a serious injury in Australia. I'm still doing what I can. We'll have to wait and see how things play out."

Nadal suffered a hip injury when he lost to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the Australian Open on January 18. He previously spent half a year struggling with a torn abdominal muscle - an injury that caused Mallorca to withdraw from the semifinals of Wimbledon 2022.

Before announcing his withdrawal from the two Masters 1000s in Indian Wells and Miami this month, Nadal was absent from the Doha Open and Dubai Championship. He also had to cancel a show with Carlos Alcaraz in Las Vegas as well as a series of tournaments in South and Central America.

According to Marca newspaper, the 36-year-old tennis player can re-appear in Monte Carlo on April 9. This is a familiar event for Nadal to warm up for Roland Garros - where he is the defending champion and holds a record of 14 cup lifts. Of the four Grand Slams, Roland Garros is where Nadal has the most hope to increase the record 22 titles shared with Novak Djokovic.

Nadal reached the final of Indian Wells last year. Withdrawing from this year's tournament will cause him to lose more points and face the risk of falling out of the ATP top 10 for the first time in 18 years. Nadal is currently eighth with 3,315 points, less than 300 points ahead of 11th Hubert Hurkacz.