Rafael Nadal at a crossroads, but don't write him off yet

Rafael Nadal has a long history of silencing his epitaph writers. No other athlete in history has made as many triumphant comebacks as the iconic Spaniard.

But now at the ripe old age of 36, the 22-time Grand Slam winner faces yet another challenge of pushing the limits of his physical endurance.

Having been forced out of the game for more than two months by a hip flexor injury he sustained at the Australian Open in January, Nadal was hoping to be fit for the year's first clay court tournament in Monte Carlo, an event he has won 11 times.

It has also been an important event in Nadal's calendar almost every year, the first tournament of the clay court season that ends at Roland Garros in Paris where Nadal is the undisputed king.

But on Tuesday, Nadal admitted defeat in his race against time to be fit for the Monte Carlo Masters (April 8-April 16).

"Hi everyone, I'm still not ready to compete at the highest level," the Spaniard tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.

"I will not be able to play in one of the most important tournaments of my career, Monte Carlo."

Nadal's withdrawal has now put serious question marks over his participation at the French Open (May 28-June 11).

Remarkably, Nadal also had an injury-plagued clay-court season last year as a rib fracture kept him out of the Monte Carlo Masters.

After missing his favourite pre-French Open clay court tournament in Monte Carlo, Nadal made an inauspicious return at the Madrid Open before producing another below-par performance at the Italian Open where he was troubled by the relapse of a chronic foot injury.

The Spaniard still was not at his 100 per cent when the clay-court major at Roland Garros began last year.

But his legendary never-say-die spirit came back to haunt every opponent in Paris where he ended the tournament with his record-extending 14th French Open title.

Producing jaw-dropping performances against Novak Djokovic in the quarters and Alexander Zverev in an epic semifinal clash, Nadal set up a final clash with Casper Ruud.

He moved effortlessly and launched stinging groundstrokes during his clinical destruction of Ruud, leaving you wondering if it was the same Nadal that needed several injections to be able to step on the court for that final against the rising Norwegian.

Now doubts have crept into the minds of tennis lovers again about whether Nadal would be able to make yet another rip-roaring comeback from yet another injury crisis.

But you can never write off the greatest fighter tennis has ever known, especially in the clay court season.

“To me, Rafa is still going to be the one to beat at the French. Until he retires, he’s the one to beat there,” former American tennis star Mary Joe Fernandez told Prime.