“I can’t continue playing tennis in current condition”: Rafael Nadal
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Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal has most probably cemented his position to be termed as the greatest tennis player of all time after winning his 22nd grand slam title at Roland Garros. He thrashed 8th seed Casper Ruud in the final of the 2022 French Open in straight sets 6-3,6-3,6-0 to win a record 14th Roland Garros title. With this win, Nadal is two slams clear of his arch-rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who both have won 20 grand slam titles.
Nadal played the French Open with a lot of pain due to his foot condition which aggravated during the Rome Masters. After his victory, Nadal admitted on France Televisions that it is obvious that without pain and suffering, you can’t win those great competitions but also stated that his daily life has become more difficult due to his foot.
“It’s obvious that without pain, without suffering, you can’t win those great competitions, but it’s true that my daily life is now very difficult,” Nadal said. “There are good moments with wins and victories, but at home, with my foot, it’s very difficult. My team is helping me deal with the situation.”
Nadal revealed that the most difficult moment this fortnight was after his second-round match when he wasn’t even able to walk in the hotel but was lucky as he had his doctor with him.
“The most difficult moment here at Roland-Garros was after, I must say, the second round against [Corentin] Moutet. Back at the hotel, I could barely walk anymore, to be truthful. I’m lucky that my doctor could help me – no player gave so much work to this doctor in the past, obviously! he said.
‘I played with an injection on the nerve and that is the reason why I was able to play’: Rafael Nadal
Nadal then revealed the treacherous conditions in which he played the final. He said that he played with a numbed foot for which he had to take oinjections. This meant that he didn’t have any sensation in his foot while playing the final. He added that for the next two weeks, he is going to try to do a few things on his foot with the doctor’s help but as things stand, it’s impossible for him to continue with this level of pain.
“I played with the foot numbed, blocking the nerves, just to be able to play. This victory is very important. I’m happy with playing tennis, I love competition, being in front of the public here, more even after the COVID period. These are incredible feelings, so we’ll see what we can do. We talked with different doctors, we have different options, we’ll try a treatment and see if it can increase my chance to continue, but as I am now it’s impossible,” he said.
Talking to Eurosport, Nadal said that he was surprised by his level with the injuries he has had in the last couple of months but he said that he always had the belief to win the French Open title.
“If I didn’t believe, I probably wouldn’t be here but of course, I’ve been surprised. As everybody knows in the world of tennis, the preparation wasn’t ideal. I was outside the practice courts for one month and a half with a stress fracture on the rib and then I had the foot, which is something that stays there all the time. In Rome, it was very difficult but then I’ve been amazing, had my doctor here with me. I don’t know how to say this, but we played with no feeling on the foot. I played with an injection on the nerve and that is the reason why I was able to play,” he said.
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