The Spaniard, Rafael Nadal captured his 11th Roland Garros title this year, along with his titles in Monaco, Barcelona and Rome. In Barcelona, he became the first player in the open era to win 400 matches on both clay and hard. At the Australian, Open Nadal retired in the quarterfinal due to his hip injury and she concluded his 2018 season by retiring at the US Open semifinal against Del Potro. Before, meeting the Argentine, Nadal played an epic, five-hour long match against Dominic Their in the quarters. After withdrawing from the Paris Master due to an abdominal injury, his World Number one crown subsequently was held by Djokovic.
The ‘King of Clay’, Nadal will be seen at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi and there is a progressive recovery perceived in his injury. In Abu Dhabi, Nadal will be playing the South African, Kevin Anderson. “Good, going step by step. I am not making steps back, just steps forward all the time, taking care of my body after a while without having a chance to be on the court and trying to do things slowly,” Nadal said. “It’s important for me to protect the body and to avoid tough circumstances. I know I have time to be ready for Melbourne at 100 per cent.”
For the 2019 Australian Open, Nadal is determined to add the 18th Slam to his collection of majors. He also shared about how he tackled with his injuries in the second half of the past season. “After the second part of the year, have been tough last year in terms of injuries but that happens and that’s part of my tennis career too. Just try to stay calm, try to work the right way and when I’m back I know things are not easy, I know at the beginning you always have tough feelings and pains in the body that normally you don’t have. But I have experience in all of this and try to be ready for the everyday practices and when (I) arrive (at) the matches I don’t have to ask myself big things at the beginning, just trying to be positive with every improvement and that way normally you get the right point.”
