"No drama, no controversy, just pulling out of an event on time ": Tennis fans hail Rafael Nadal for timely withdrawal from Monte-Carlo

Rafael Nadal's incredible 2022 season hit an unfortunate roadblock a few days ago, as the Spaniard was diagnosed with a rib stress fracture following his 2022 Indian Wells Masters campaign.

After losing his first match of the year against Taylor Fritz in the final to finish the early hardcourt swing with a mind-blowing 20-1 record, the World No. 3 is expected to sit out the next 4-6 weeks as a result.

What is even more frustrating about the injury is the timing of it. The Mallorcan has been forced to skip some of his favorite tournaments on the clay swing, with questions even looming about his participation in his raison d'être -- the French Open.

The four-week period coincides with the Monte-Carlo Masters (April 10-17) and the Barcelona Open (April 18-24), two tournaments the former World No. 1 has won 11 and 12 times each respectively till date. While Nadal is yet to pull out of the latter, he has officially withdrawn from the former, and his place in the main draw has been taken up by World No. 49 Benoit Paire.

The official announcement was not surprising in the slightest, as it was only a matter of time before he was taken out of the tournament. But that did not stop fans of the 21-time Grand Slam champion from taking to Twitter to lament the sight of their favorite player missing out on the ATP 1000 event.

"Clay without Nadal is like religion without God," one fan boldly declared.

"You knew it’s coming, but it still hurts when you finally see it happening," another fan posted.

"Need a trigger warning for tweets like these," one fan tweeted.

Some fans also made use of the announcement to take a dig at Novak Djokovic. For those unaware, the World No. 1 was ineligible for entry into the US during the recently concluded Indian Wells Masters due to the existing vaccine mandate in the country.

Despite that, Djokovic left it very late to announce his official withdrawal from the event, not doing so until after the draw was made. The Serb copped a lot of criticism from fans and pundits alike for his actions, with many complaining that it made the draw unbalanced.

Bringing up the contrast between what the 20-time Grand Slam champion did back then and the timely withdrawal by Nadal, tennis fans hoped that Djokovic could learn a thing or two from his rival.

"Pulling out weeks before the draw. Who could learn from this, I wonder," one user tweeted.

"No drama, no controversy, just pulling out of an event on time to let others play it like any human with self respect would do," another user tweeted.

Rafael Nadal not making an appearance at the Monte-Carlo Masters for the first time since 2005

The 2022 edition marks Rafael Nadal's first absence in the Monte-Carlo Masters since 2005

Having made his debut at the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2003, Rafael Nadal skipped the next edition with an injury and roared back into the tournament by going all the way in 2005. Since then, an appearance in Monte-Carlo has never been missing from the 21-time Grand Slam champion's calendar.

In the 16 years between 2005 and 2021 (not held in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic), the Spaniard has won the title 11 times (2005-2012, 2016-2018) and finished as the runner-up once (2013). In 2014, the Mallorcan lost in the quarterfinals against David Ferrer whereas he fell against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in 2015.

In 2019, the former World No. 1 succumbed to a shock defeat against Fabio Fognini in the semifinals. In the most recent 2021 edition, it was Andrey Rublev who unexpectedly put an end to Nadal's dreams of winning a 12th title in the quarterfinals.