RAFAEL NADAL DROPS A SHOCKING MESSAGE ON THE SOCIAL MIDIA TO TEAM/FANS........

The 14-time Roland Garros champion has persistently stated he would not play at the Paris Grand Slam unless he felt he could be competitive and challenge for another title to round of his remarkable story in the French capital.

“If I was in Paris today, I wouldn’t go out to play,” Nadal told reporters in Madrid last month.

“I’m going to do the things I have to do to be able to play in Paris. And if I can, I can and if I can’t, I can’t.

“I’m going to Paris if I feel like I’m good enough… I’m going to Paris if I feel capable enough to compete.”

They were the sentiments of a champion who has never accepted the second prize as any kind of consolation over the course of his career, yet Nadal’s mood changed after he was outclassed by No 7 seed Hurkacz on a blistering warm day and slumped to a 6-1 6-3 defeat.

While he was competitive in the match for long periods, the intensity and consistency that made Nadal so tough to beat on clay throughout his career was missing against Hurkacz in a match that gave him the answers he needed over whether he could be a contender for the title at the French Open.