Paris, April 5 (IANS): Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal has announced his withdrawal from the upcoming Monte Carlo Masters due to health reasons.

The withdrawal casts a shadow over Nadal's hope to return to Roland Garros in late May for his 15th French Open title, reports Xinhua.

"These are very difficult moments for me," Nadal wrote on social media. "Unfortunately I have to tell you that I am not going to be playing in Monte-Carlo. My body simply won't allow me. And even if I am working hard and making the maximum effort every day with all the will to play and compete again at tournaments that have been very important for me, the truth is that I can't play today."

The 22-time Grand Slam winner went through hip surgery last summer and has played only three matches, all in Brisbane, after his return to action at the beginning of this year. He defeated Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler before losing in the quarterfinals to Jordan Thompson, when he felt a hip injury flare-up which prompted his withdrawal from the Australian Open.

"You have no idea how hard this is for me to not be able to play these events. The only thing I can do is to accept the situation and try to look at the immediate future keeping the excitement and will to play in order to give me a chance for things to get better," the Spaniard wrote.

Nadal, the best tennis player on clay ever, has clinched a record 11 titles in Monte Carlo, of which the last was in 2018 -- he fell at the semifinals in 2019, the quarters in 2021 and missed the 2020, 2022 and 2023 editions.

On nine of the 11 occasions, Nadal went on to lift the trophy at Roland Garros as well.