PARIS -- When the scratchy announcement came through the media center intercom at Roland Garros on Friday afternoon that Rafael Nadal had just called a news conference without warning, folks looked at each other and sighed. It had to mean bad news was coming.

And it was. The future of men's tennis snapped into a sadder focus with Nadal's sudden decision to withdraw because of a tendon injury in his left wrist.

It was hard to resist thinking this: Get used to life without Nadal and Roger Federer lurking in the draw of every major tournament.

Hard to believe, but Rafael Nadal will go back-to-back seasons without a French Open title for the first time in his career. Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images

The greatest era the men's game has ever known unmistakably seems to be continuing its slow, inexorable glide down.

Injuries -- not waning desire -- bounced the 34-year-old Federer out of the French Open the Thursday before the tournament started, snapping his streak of 65 straight Grand Slam majors played.

Now Nadal has revealed that an inflamed tendon sheath in his left wrist -- which first started bothering him during tournaments in Madrid and Rome -- had become so sore again after two matches here in Paris that he couldn't hit a forehand anymore.

Nadal's doctors took more MRIs and finally told the Spanish left-hander that he couldn't risk playing anymore even with another pain-killing injection like the one he took to play Thursday. Nadal said doctors told him if he played on, the tendon in his left wrist would "break."

"Today is one of the toughest press conference in my career," a dejected Nadal said before vowing he'd be back. He noted how he'd been playing so well recently that he really believed he had a chance to win his 10th title here.

Now, instead, top-ranked Novak Djokovic -- who is gunning for his first French Open title -- sees that the most formidable contender on his side of the draw has disappeared.

Even Djokovic, who turned 29 on Sunday, wouldn't want his breakthrough to happen this way.

Federer is merely the greatest player of all time. Nadal was, for so long, the greatest rival of Federer's generation. They own 32 Grand Slam titles between them. But Djokovic, winner of five of the past seven majors played, is closing fast.

Like Djokovic, Nadal always celebrates his birthday (June 3) during the French Open fortnight. This year, Nadal turns 30, and even before his injury was revealed, he was batting away questions about his age from the moment he arrived.

It was telling that at his news conference Friday, reporters volleyed four or five questions at him just to narrow down if this latest injury was the same wrist he hurt last year. ("No, that was the right," Nadal said.) He was also asked for some perspective on how this latest setback compares to all the other maladies he's had, such as the bad knees that kept him out for months and months before.

Nadal was told he'd need wrist surgery if he kept playing, but if he stopped and has his injured wrist immobilized for a couple of weeks, he could begin practicing within a month and perhaps play Wimbledon.

Federer hopes to be there, as well. But with Federer, too, there is no guarantee. He turns 35 in August, and a wonky knee and bad back have taken turns troubling him so much this year that no one is sure exactly which ailment prevented him from playing Roland Garros.

The point is, Federer isn't here. Now Nadal isn't either. Having a major without both of them just doesn't feel the same.