‘Going to Have My Doctor There With Me’ – Injury Woes to Haunt Rafael Nadal as He Bids to Win His 14TH Title at French Open 2022

Spanish tennis icon Rafael Nadal suffered a surprising loss to Canada’s Denis Shapovalov at the on-going Italian Open. Towards the end of that match, we saw Rafa limping gingerly, which garnered a massive reaction on social media.

Many fans were concerned for the Spaniard and his chances at the French Open after another injury setback. During the post-match press conference, Nadal discussed his injury and what he will do between now and Roland Garros.

Rafael Nadal could potentially appoint a doctor to accompany him at the French Open

The foot injury has been bothering the 21-time Grand Slam winner since forever as he has been going through consistent treatments on his foot for recovery.

Now, it seems like it has come back again to haunt him ahead of the French Open. Speaking about his foot injury, Rafa said, “First thing that I need to do is to don’t have pain to practice, that’s it. And the negative thing is today it’s not possible to play for me. But maybe in two days things are better, that’s the thing that I have on my foot.”

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The 21-time Grand Slam champion further revealed, “It’s true that during the French Open, Roland Garros, I going to have my doctor there with me. That sometime helps because you can do things. In the positive days and in the negative days, you need to stay and to value all the things that happened to me in a positive way. Then days like today, just accept and try to keep going even if sometimes it’s not easy for me.” 

Can Rafa win his 14th French Open title in Paris?

During the pre-quarters match against Denis Shapovalov, Nadal started in a dominant fashion. However, he lost ground in the second set as the Canadian player took the set from him in a close contest. In the decider, the Spaniard couldn’t play to his best level owing to his foot injury. 

The French Open will start on 22nd May and the draw will be out pretty soon. With this latest loss, Nadal’s ranking will drop and as a result, he could face Novak Djokovic much earlier in the competition than expected. Either way, the Spaniard has to play his absolute best tennis to have any chance of wining the French Open and his 22nd Grand Slam title. 

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