Rafael Nadal Says He Had Not Trained Well Heading into The Australian Open 2022

Spanish legend Rafael Nadal made history by winning the Australian Open 2022. Rafa became the first men’s singles player to win 21 Grand Slam titles. Moreover, he finally surpassed longtime rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the all-time major tally.

Ahead of his final with Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal had a better head-to-head, as he had already won 3 out of their 4 previous matches. Nevertheless, Medvedev, the World No. 2, was the younger finalist by almost a decade, and Rafa recently admitted he was nervous.

Rafael Nadal was nervous ahead of his Australian Open 2022 final

After his epic five-set thriller against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal has been reveling in the joy of writing history.

He also became the only player apart from Novak Djokovic to have won each Grand Slam at least twice. Nevertheless, it does not mean that the 21-time Grand Slam champion was not nervous as he entered the Rod Laver Arena.

Rafael Nadal admitted he was anxious. “I was nervous before the final,” Rafa said. Of course, the former World No. 1 knew he was a single match away from creating history.

“I knew that something very important was at stake,” Rafa shared. Moreover, his medical history over the past half-year made him doubt himself even more. Nadal had not been able to train for a lot of months owing to a foot injury. In fact, the injury had been the reason behind Nadal quitting the tour for six months, not playing since August 2021.

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“Other years I had arrived prepared,” Nadal said. However, for Rafa, “this year everything has turned upside down.”

Rafa Nadal had some very bad months

“I had been having very bad months,” Nadal said. He expressed how he went “without being able to train well,” because of his recovery. Furthermore, the Spaniard had contracted the coronavirus after a stint at the Mubadala WTC in Abu Dhabi.

“Then the COVID thing happened,” Rafa continued. He revealed how, right before his campaign in Australia began, he “had to be locked up at home for 10 days”. This had cast serious doubts on the Spaniard’s future in tennis.

In fact, Rafa had himself considered retiring from the sport after the latter half of 2021 treated him to a slew of unfortunate developments. Nevertheless, it all turned out to be for the best.

Not only did Rafael Nadal kick off his 2020 campaign with an ATP 250 tournament victory at the Melbourne Set, but he went on to etch his name deeper in history with a record 21st Grand Slam championship.

The Spaniard will undoubtedly continue to play tennis, and fans are excited to see the resurgent ‘raging bull’ in his favorite setting at Roland Garros later this year.

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