Europe 1 with AFP 5:12 p.m., May 16, 2022, modified at 5:14 p.m., May 16, 2022

The French tennis number 1, Gaël Monfils, announced on Monday that he would not participate in the Roland-Garros tournament, which will be held from May 22 to June 5.

In question, a bony growth in the right heel which prevents the tennis player from moving on the court. 

Gaël Monfils, French number 1 and 22nd player in the world, announced on Monday that he would not participate in Roland-Garros (May 22-June 5), of which Europe 1 is a partner, due to discomfort in his right heel which caused him prevents movement on the court.

“I regret to announce my withdrawal from Open Parc de Lyon (this week, editor’s note) and from Roland-Garros next week.

Heel spur

I have been hampered since Monte-Carlo by a calcaneal spur (bony growth, editor's note) in my right heel which prevents me from moving on the court", explains Monfils in a message posted on Twitter. "I made the decision to do a small intervention in order to deal with the problem in order to be able to resume the tournaments as soon as possible”, he adds, without advancing a deadline for resumption.

This package is another blow to the already very slim chances of French tennis, in serious poor shape, for this 2022 edition. By way of illustration: Monfils was already absent in Rome last week and, for the first time in more than fifty years, no French player entered the main draw of the Italian tournament.

Gaël Monfils soon to be a dad

The Parisian, 35 and the only Habs in the top 40, had made a convincing start to the season by winning in Adelaide and advancing to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

But when the clay-court season opened in April, he gave up playing in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, ​​already hampered by his foot.

Then he gave up on Rome, claiming the "persistence of a heel injury".

Between the two, after "ten full days" of stoppage, he only played two matches in Madrid, where he was stopped by world No.1 Novak Djokovic (6-3, 6-2) in the second round. .

Gaël Monfils also announced on Sunday that his wife, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina, ranked 32nd in the WTA, and him were expecting their first child, a girl, for the month of October.