Rafael Nadal celebrates his 37th birthday today in recovery.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion underwent hip surgery on Friday night. The surgery was reportedly successful with Nadal facing a five to six month recovery period.
While world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz was facing Denis Shapovalov at Roland Garros, Nadal was undergoing surgery in Spain.
The procedure was described as “a small surgical intervention by arthroscopy, to review the injury of the left psoas that has kept him away from the competition.,” Nadal’s team said in a statement.
Former world No. 1 Nadal has not played a match since injuring his hip in a straight-sets loss to Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open on January 17th.
Prior to surgery, Nadal announced he hopes to return for a farewell season in 2024.