Nadal out of Madrid Open after slow recovery from hip injury

Nadal will miss the Madrid Open next week because his recovery from a hip injury is going much slower than expected

Madrid: Rafael Nadal will miss the Madrid Open next week because his recovery from a hip injury is going much slower than expected.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner has been sidelined since January by a left hip flexor injury he picked up at the Australian Open. The issue has kept him from the Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona tournaments so far.

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The Madrid Open he’s won five times starts on Monday.

“(This injury) was supposed to keep me out six to eight weeks, but I have been out 14,” Nadal said in Spanish in a message on Instagram on Thursday.

“We have followed all the medical advice, but my recovery has not gone as they said it would, and now we find ourselves in a difficult situation.” The 36-year-old Nadal did not mention his prospects for being fit for the French Open starting on May 28.