Eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal suffered again with an injury. This time, the physical problem that compromised the Spaniard’s performance was on his left hip. At 36 years old, the Spaniard recognizes that the recovery process against constant injuries is something very mentally exhausting. He also claims that he did not want to abandon this Wednesday’s match against the American Mackenzie McDonald. As the defending champion of the tournament, he preferred to play until the end.
“It’s the left hip. I don’t know what’s going on. If it’s the muscle, if it’s a joint. I have a history with the hip, I’ve had treatments in the past, but it wasn’t like that. Now it’s hard to know, but I’ll do the tests .” said Nadal after the 6/4, 6/4, 7/5 loss to McDonald. “It’s frustrating and hard to accept. Right now is a difficult time, but I need to move on. In the end, I can’t complain about my life at all.”
“If I didn’t say that I’m mentally destroyed, I’d be lying. It’s difficult, but I hope it’s nothing too serious. I’ve been through this process many times in my career and I’m ready to continue, I think. But it’s not easy”, evaluates the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles.
“I didn’t ask my team, I’m old enough to make my own decisions. Being the current champion, I didn’t want to leave the court with a forfeit. I tried until the end. I don’t know if I would win the match in good conditions, I would have more chances, without doubt. But in the end that’s it. I tried, it wasn’t possible”, commented the number 2 in the world. “That’s the philosophy and essence of the sport. And I’ve tried to follow that throughout my tennis career. But of course I didn’t want to add to the damage either and I didn’t know what was going on.”
Nadal was also asked about the sacrifices he is undergoing to try to recover from so many physical problems and remain competitive. “I like what I do. I like to play tennis and I know it’s not forever. I like to feel competitive and to fight for the things I’ve been fighting for almost half my life or even more. , sacrifices always make sense. In fact, I don’t think that word would fit here. Sacrifice is when you’re doing things you don’t want to do. And that wasn’t my case”.
“Of course it is exhausting and frustrating to spend part of my tennis career in recovery processes and trying to fight it all the time. But I have taken it very well throughout my career and managed well. The last seven months have, again, been very difficult. I don’t know what can happen in the future”, added the Spaniard.
“For the last seven months, I haven’t played almost anything. And then if I have to spend a lot of time away again, it’s going to be super hard in the end to be in rhythm and be competitive and be ready to fight for the things I really want to fight for. Let’s see how the injury is, then let’s see how I can manage to follow the schedule”.
