The French Open has responded after Rafael Nadal sparked fears that he will not recover in time to play at his most successful tournament. “Take care, Rafa,” the Roland Garros Instagram account commented, adding an orange heart. It comes after tournament director Amelie Mauresmo and French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton visited Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca last month.

The pair was there to present his academy with a replica of the Nadal statue currently on the Roland Garros grounds. And during their visit, the former world No 1 shared his desire to play this year’s French Open despite his injury woes.

“I really hope to see you again this year at Roland Garros, and I’ll try to be competitive,” he told Mauresmo and Moretton. “You know how much Roland Garros and this place mean to me. Having you here is a very special moment, and I can’t thank you enough for coming, along with some of the staff with whom I am very close at Roland Garros.”

The clay-court Major is now just 38 days away and the 14-time champion has changed his treatment after failing to see the intended progress of his existing rehab program. 

Nadal provided fans with lengthy update on his continued injury lay-off on Thursday, pulling out of the Madrid Masters while admitting that he cannot work out what he needs to do to recover. The 36-year-old got injured at the Australian Open and was initially given a six-to-eight-week recovery timeframe.

But now on 14th week, the Spaniard has found himself continuing to pull out of tournaments and delay his comeback after initially being under the impression that he could play a full clay season. His latest update now is raising major question marks about his participation at the French Open this year.