Less than a month. 29 days have passed since Rafael Nadal, serious, arms crossed, wearing a polo shirt and white cap, announced in the All England Club’s press room that he was withdrawing from Wimbledon, to his great regret. I couldn’t take it anymore, the pain in my abdomen was unbearable. “I don’t think I can win under these circumstances,” he said. Not even being at the gates of the semifinals where Kyrgios was waiting; not even two games away from rethinking the course of history.
This Friday, two days before the start of the Canadian Masters 1,000, the penultimate stop of the course before the US Open, the Balearic tennis player, accustomed to pain, announced on his Twitter profile that he would have to wait: “Four days ago I caught started practicing the serve and yesterday, after practice, I had a little discomfort, which is still there today. And he added: “We have decided not to travel to Montréal and continue with the training without coercion”.
From the vacation days to my subsequent return to training, everything went well in these weeks. Four days ago I also started serving training and yesterday after training I had a little discomfort that was still there today.
– Rafael Nadal (@RafaelNadal) August 5, 2022
Nadal, the best tennis player of the season at the age of 36, with 92% wins and two of the three Grand Slams played so far – Australian Open and Roland Garros – finished his statement with the harsh reality: “I don’t know it’s another, to be prudent at this point and think about health”.
It’s inevitable. The Balearic, the tennis player with the tallest (22), picked up an injury again when things were going better. A seven-millimeter tear in the rectus rectus muscle which, although reduced – three or four weeks of rest has been estimated to fully heal – still prevents him from serving normally.
In the Wimbledon quarterfinals against Fritz, Nadal had already had to abandon the match due to pain, although he was able to return and qualify for the semifinals. However, the next day, on the eve of the semi-final against Kyrgios, he withdrew from the London tournament: “The risk is immediate, I can’t risk it,” he told the press room. “Experience tells me that this is how I should do it. In 2009 [cuando cedió en las semifinales del US Open contra el argentino Juan Martín del Potro] I had another similar episode and the break at the start of the tournament was one size and at the end I multiplied it by eight.
Since leaving Wimbledon, where Nadal himself assured that he had “real options” for victory, the Balearic tennis player has only one goal in mind: Flushing Meadows. There, at the US Open, the Spaniard hopes to find his best feeling again.
It wouldn’t be new, as the US Open is so far the second Major he has won in his career: four wins (2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019), only behind the 14 at Roland Garros but double that as in Melbourne and London (two).
Nadal hopes to come to New York undisturbed. There, on the Arthur Ashe cement in front of more than 23,000 spectators, the Mallorcan has a chance to add his 23rd Grand Slam – level with Serena Williams – and also return to the top of the world rankings, a position he has not found since February 2020 instead of.
Nadal could have reclaimed the top of the ATP in Montreal, but injury once again stopped him at his peak. He, meanwhile, refers to personal well-being. “You can’t fight that,” he said in London after leaving Wimbledon in front of the attentive gaze of dozens of journalists. “That’s how things came about and in life you have to accept that.”
Follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.