Rafael Nadal is a major doubt for the French Open after admitting treatment on the hip injury he suffered in January has not worked. The 22-time grand slam champion had hoped the issue, which occurred during his second-round defeat by Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open, would only take six to eight weeks to heal. Three months later his training schedule is at a halt and, having already missed the first two clay-court events in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, he has now pulled out of next week’s Madrid Open. In a post on Instagram, Nadal said: ‘It has been a difficult few weeks and months. The injury still hasn’t healed and I can’t work out what I need to do to compete.’
