An interaction with a reporter laid bare the toll a 21-year career has taken on Rafael Nadal’s body, as the Spanish tennis star said he endures pain “every single day.”
After his round of 16 win over David Goffin – which was decided by a mammoth third-set tiebreaker – Nadal limped into his post-match press conference, prompting a journalist to ask him about his apparent discomfort.
“No, don’t worry,” the 21-time grand slam champion replied. “When I play, sometimes my foot pains me. If you see me every single day, you wouldn’t be worried. I always have pain in my foot, especially after playing a three-hour match or a long training. I end up walking a little bit badly.
“But I have a chronic injury which has no treatment. That’s part of my life, and that’s the downside of not being able to finish the match earlier. In the short term, I think I am fine, physically speaking, but also, speaking about my feet, it has to adapt to competition. It has to adapt to the stress that matches like today have on me.
“In the short therm, as I said, it’s fine, but I’m also conscious for tomorrow. It’s a little bit more complicated because tomorrow I can wake up with more problems and we have to accept it and face it.”
Nadal has been blighted by injuries throughout his career and is only just returning from a rib injury suffered at Indian Wells in March, which at one point looked like it may threaten his participation in the upcoming French Open.
Last year alone, Nadal suffered from a back injury at the start of the season and was then forced to miss the second half of 2021 with a foot injury. That time out meant he was unable to compete at Wimbledon and the Olympics.
All those ailments then only made it all the more impressive that he was able to win his record-breaking 21st grand slam at the Australian Open at the start of 2022 on his way to a personal best 20-0 start to a season.
