“Illogical things happen on grass” Rafael Nadal discusses the challenge of returning to the surface after 3 years

World No. 4 and 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will keep the dream of winning a Calendar Slam alive as he confirms his plan to participate in the upcoming 2022 Wimbledon Championships that begin on 27th June in the historic All-England Club. Nadal will come looking for his 23rd major and 3rd Wimbledon title while also hoping to win his third major title of the season having earlier claimed the titles in Australia and France.

With Alexander Zverev joining the absentees list along with the Russian and Belarusian players, Nadal’s greatest threat remains 3-time defending champion Novak Djokovic who despite dropping to World No. 3 remains the top seed in absence of Zverev and World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. Novak is eyeing his 21st major since last year’s Wimbledon and given his dominance over the past 3 editions in the tournament, it promises to be a great race for this year’s Championships.

Also Read: Rafael Nadal’s outfit for Wimbledon 2022 showcases the classic ‘raging bull’ logo and branding from Nike

“I will have to survive”: Rafael Nadal on returning to Grass

Nadal had to undergo a foot surgery after winning the 2022 French Open but he returned to normal training less than a week after his surgery raising the hopes of returning to action right away. While he has not signed up for any warm-up event to prepare and accustomise himself to the surface, Nadal talked about what challenges the surface brings for him and how does he plan to tackle it as his last Grass appearance came during the 2019 season when he reached the semi-finals of the 2019 Wimbledon.

“I am excited about the possibility of playing at Wimbledon. I haven’t played on grass for three years, so I have to be patient. It’s a very complicated surface because illogical things happen. I know that the first laps are very difficult and that I will have to survive. It’s true that the second week is a more normal tournament with the evolution of the field. I’m going to have a week of training in London, I’m going to play two matches at Hurlingham and we’ll see how it goes,” said Nadal during his recent press conference from Mallorca.

While he has said he desires to play in the Championships, a late withdrawal might be on the cards depending on how his foot behaves when he practices in the final week ahead of the Grand Slam where Nadal is expected to be the second seed behind Djokovic.

Also Read: “Bad news for Novak Djokovic” Twitter goes into a frenzy over Rafael Nadal’s confirmation to play at Wimbledon

Also Read: “Discriminating against professionals” Denis Shapovalov lashes out at Queen’s Club over their biased treatment of female players

Follow our page FirstSportz Tennis for the latest updates