What's next for Rafael Nadal after losing in the first round of the French Open

Rafael Nadal might be done at the 2024 French Open, though he could always return in 2025. He still needs to make that decision and has a year in which to do so. The Spaniard is not completely done with his career, though. 2024 might be his final year, but the French Open is not expected to be his final event ever.

Just don't expect Nadal to play at Wimbledon. Nadal has to be cautious about how much he plays in order to participate in the events he wants to play. While he has won Wimbledon twice, he has not made a final at the grass-court major since 2010. The chances he was going to make a deep run in 2024 were unlikely.

Instead, Nadal appears focused on being in good form and in good health for the Summer Olympics, which begin in late July. The Spaniard has always been passionate about representing his home country during the global sporting event. He won a gold medal in singles in 2008 and won another gold while playing doubles (with Marc Lopez) in 2016.

Rafael Nadal most likely will skip Wimbledon

To make the Olympics even more eventful for Nadal this time, the tennis portion will be held in Paris at the same location the French Open is help. Providing he remains in good health, Nadal might be done with Roland Garros but he is not done playing on Court Philippe-Chatrier. He still has a chance for real success on the court where he has had his greatest triumphs.

In his post-match press conference after losing to Alexander Zverev in the first round at Roland Garros, Nadal said that playing at Wimbledon "looks difficult." As he has said about his potential return to the French Open in 2025, Nadal reiterated he cannot tell what his future holds. The issue with playing at Wimbledon is that the French Open and the Olympics are both played on clay while Wimbledon is on grass and the back-and-forth transition might be difficult.

Nadal said, "I can’t confirm what’s going on, but it looks difficult to make the transition to grass, having the Olympics again on clay. I cannot confirm anything, I have to talk with the team to analyze so many facts. But I don’t think it’s going to be smart after all the things that happened to my body to make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back immediately to clay. Today, I feel that’s not a good idea."

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