Rafael Nadal opens up on the trauma his foot injury brought to his professional and personal life
World No 2 Rafael Nadal reveals the challenges he faced due to his left foot injury since it had made him think about quitting tennis.
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Rafael Nadal - FirstSportz
Spaniard legend Rafael Nadal clinched two Grand Slam singles titles in the year. He was on the verge of reaching another Grand Slam final but an untimely abdominal tear of 7mm disrupted his performances. After his injury, he failed to be consistent with his performances. Nadal is no stranger to injuries having suffered many throughout his career.
In the 2021 season, he didn’t play in the entire second half due to a left foot injury that flared up during the French Open. This year was no different. The Mallorcan’s first encounter with injury this year came in the form of a stress fracture to his rib. The already shortened clay season was then affected by the resurfacing of Nadal’s chronic foot injury. World No 2 still managed to win the 2022 French Open revealing that he took anesthetic injections to numb his foot.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion claimed that the injury isn’t curable but a treatment changed his life professionally and personally. He opened up about his struggles with his injury. He also claimed about having thoughts of quitting due to his injuries and would remain sad on most days. But, he admitted that he is in a happy space now.
“The truth is that I have done it many times after Wimbledon because the injury is incurable and when the nerve starts to hurt you have to do it again. I have to thank Mario, my regular anesthesiologist in Barcelona, and Dr. Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, who were the ones who put me in contact with David Abejon, a specialist in the Pain Unit, to start a treatment that has drastically changed not only my career, which in the end is secondary but my personal life.
“Now I am much happier, beyond winning or losing on the court because I was suffering from a limp. I played tennis with lots and lots of anti-inflammatories but I was limping all day long. I thought I had to quit tennis because I had lost my vitality and I was a sad person most days,” said Rafael Nadal during an interview with MARCA.
Also Read: WATCH: A young Rafael Nadal names Clay as his least favorite surface
Rafael Nadal sheds light on the GOAT debate
The 36-year-old made his debut in 2001 and went on to win his first Grand Slam in 2005. Since then, he dominated the sport and is known as one of the greatest players of all time. He faced the most competition from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Along with it, the GOAT debate is one of the most sought topics in the last few years.
The 2022 Australian Open winner admitted that when Novak arrived, Federer was better than him but his rivalry with Djokovic turned out to be better. He also stated that he has won more times against the World No 5. Nadal went on to claim that the three of them pushed each other to perform at their best. But, he stated that he would like to be the one who finishes with the most majors.
The 14-time French Open champion will kickstart his 2023 campaign with his participation in the United Cup. He will lead the Spanish team at the mixed-gender competition that is scheduled to start on 29th December. Nadal is likely to play a few Tour matches before he plays the 2023 Australian Open as the defending champion.
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)