• Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal (Photo : Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal's injury has not only cast a major setback in his quest to regain his old form, but may have also brought serious implications in the Spaniard's future this season.

After his somewhat successful stint in the clay-season, winning back-to-back titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona and playing the best tennis of his career following a forgetful season last year, Nadal goes back to square one, no thanks to the left wrist injury he suffered amid an impressive run at the French Open.

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Nadal, who retired hurt prior to his third round match against compatriot Marcel Granollers, has now joined career rival Roger Federer in the sidelines as the world No. 5 pulled out for the first time in 12 French Open appearances.

The "King of Clay," who was in his vintage form against Sam Groth and Facundo Bagnis in the early rounds, was disappointed to miss the chance at a 10th Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, but more importantly the opportunity to finally catch up with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who has been men's tennis best player in the past two seasons.

"I would have preferred if this had been last year," Nadal said, reports USA Today. "We had done our homework. I was moving forward. I played at very high level for several weeks. Unfortunately, this has stopped me now, but I certainly hope it will just be a brief incident and that I can fully recover."

Nadal has not won against Djokovic in all of their three meetings this year, including tournaments in Doha, Indian Wells and most recently in Rome. But interestingly, the more Nadal faces Djokovic, the more he gets close to defeating the Serb, who has beaten him in seven-consecutive matches since the Mallorcan won the French Open in 2014.

In Doha, Nadal succumbed to a 6-1 6-2 beating from Djokovic, then came close to defeating Nole in the semifinal round of Indian Wells 7-6(5) 6-2. Their next meeting, which took place in the QF round of the Italian Open, had Nadal caring some of his clay-season momentum to take Djokovic in a very tight two sets (7-5 7-6(4)).

Nadal had a chance to face Djokovic once again in the semifinals of Roland Garros, and all indications point to the former winning against the latter, considering his overwhelming victories over Groth (6-1 6-1 6-1) and Bagnis (6-3 6-0 6-3). However, defeating Djokovic would probably be the least of Nadal's worries as the 29-year-old Spaniard now faces an uncertainty in the coming days.

There is still little information about the nature of Nadal's wrist injury, but such setback brings the possibility of Rafa missing out on the next major events, including the Wimbledon, Rio Olympics and even the US Open.

Nadal's situation may not be different from his regretful season last year or his injury-riddled campaign in 2014, but he always has the drive to overcome any stumbling backs as what has been the case in his rise of form in the last few months.

"Nine times in my career I have been able to be healthy here [French Open] and to win this tournament, now is a tough moment, but is not the end," Nadal said. "Life goes on. The world isn't going to stop."