Rafael Nadal Proved All Doctors Wrong Who Said He Would Not Have Tennis Career, Says French Doctor

Rafael Nadal has made a habit of defying odds over the course of an illustrious career. Fighting injuries and coming back strongly is, in a way, a fitting summary of the major part of Nadal’s career.

Making a revelation about the Spanish superstar’s career, French osteopathic doctor Ben Illouz said that many doctors told Nadal he would not have a tennis career because of his issues with injuries.

19 Grand Slam titles later, Nadal is still going strong and is chasing an all-time record for major titles.

Rafael Nadal has resistance towards pain like none other, says French doctor

“Rafael Nadal is a man educated in mental resistance, who made his career naturally despite his problems. Many doctors told him he will not have a tennis career with his injuries. However, he proved all of them wrong,” Illouz said in an interaction on YouTube.

Illouz said that Nadal built a resistance to pain, unlike no other athlete. This was despite him having to deal with more pain than most.

“There are people in sports, who on a scale of 10 for example, they will say that they have pain at 3 while for Rafael Nadal it is at 7,” Illouz said.

“Rafael Nadal is someone who plays with inflammations until the moment where he is really at the end, and there is no alert to his body,” Illouz added.

(Quotes have been translated from French)

On Nadal’s ability to play despite numerous injuries

Illouz went on to say that Nadal does not give excuses when in pain, whereas sometimes, players tend to take it easy. That, he says, is one of the main reasons for Nadal’s success. He had accepted that he had to fight with injuries.

“I, without pain, try to force my foot a little and if I have too much pain I stop. Whereas Nadal was playing with pain in his foot in 2003 and later,” said Illouz.

“People want to be cozy because they have pain everywhere, but in fact when you look at Nadal he forces himself so much,” Illouz added.

“It triggers so much energy which is above the limits of normal strength and intensity than what the common man can do,” he continued.

Managing his schedule in recent years

The French doctor said that Nadal has to study his body a lot and this is like a job for him. He expressed that there are times when Nadal is in so much pain during post-match press conferences that he ‘sinks in his chair’.

In recent years, Nadal is managing his schedule more carefully given his age and injury troubles. Illouz threw some light on that as well.

“Nowadays, he is managing his matches more economically, he selects to participate in less number of tournaments as the tournaments are too close to each other in terms of scheduling,” Illouz expressed.

“We can see that despite everything he has faced in his career, he continues to perform at the highest level,” he said further of the 24-year-old champion.

Source – Thibaud Vezirian YouTube

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