“Sporting greatness of my nephew,” Uncle Toni speaks on Rafael Nadal’s injury amidst retirement rumors
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Rafael Nadal with his 2022 French Open trophy
Rafael Nadal clinched his record 14th Roland Garros title after beating Casper Ruud in the final of the 2022 French Open. He defeated Ruud in straight sets 6-3,6-3,6-0 to win his 22nd major title and for the first time ever, he defeated four Top 10 players en route to a grand slam title triumph.
This victory will be a lot sweeter for Nadal because of the injury scares he had. Nadal played almost the whole tournament with a numbed foot due to his foot condition. Things even got so bad that it was speculated that Nadal might retire from tennis after the French Open dur to his foot injury.
His uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal told Cadena SER after the final that fighting till the very end is in Rafa’s DNA and cited the example of the two majors he won this season. He said: “I think that fighting until the end is in his DNA, especially when you see that he is winning two Grand Slams this year. You know you’re at a great level and you want to keep fighting.”
Uncle Toni further reminded that Rafa has been living with pain since 2005 and recalled that after his loss at the 2020 Monte Carlo Masters, he told him he was not going to play Roland Garros that year. But he fought and eventually ended up winning the tournament. He said that he has seen Rafa suffer many times but he always gets up and that is his sporting greatness.
“Rafael has been living with pain since 2005. I remember after a loss in Monte Carlo in 2020, he told me he was not playing at Roland Garros. He told me he was tired of the pain. But the reality is that he continues and tries again. That is the sporting greatness of my nephew. I have seen him suffer many times,” he said.
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Will Rafael Nadal play at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships?
Nadal, after his French Open triumph, said that he will try some kind of treatment on his foot because he won’t be able to continue playing on injections. His Wimbledon participation will solely depend on how the treatment goes as he has made it clear that he won’t play on injections like he did at Roland Garros.
Uncle Toni believes that there’s a lot left in Nadal and he can handle pain several times more. “I know that there comes a time when the body cannot give anymore, I trust that this moment has not come and that I can see him several more times,” Toni Nadal said.
Based on his comments, it is safe to assume that retirement is not on Rafa’s mind as of now and if his treatment is successful, he won’t miss a chance to play Wimbledon and aim to complete a calendar slam.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)