Rafael Nadal fought hard through the pain of his chronic foot injury to win his 14th Roland Garros title In Paris. The record 22-time Grand Slam champ headed to Barcelona to get radiofrequency injections in his left foot in hopes of finding a permanent solution to years of pain. The 26-year-old had his doctor available in Paris during the french open and had to rely on steroid shots to get short-term relief from the pain while playing at his peak.
Meanwhile, Nadal had decided to pull off from this year’s Wimbledon tournament as he hoped to recover before returning to tennis. However, Rafa was captured practicing hard at the Mallorca Country Club by a local newspaper on Wednesday. The Spaniard trained on grass for two and a half hours with his coach Carlos Moya and a Spanish youngster named Martin Landaluce.
As confirmed by his representative, the King of Clay will speak with the Mallorcan media on Friday afternoon. However, no details of what Nadal will say have been disclosed yet. But, the hard and long practice shot ahead of the press meet suggests that Rafa might be thinking about participating in Wimbledon after all. The practice session on Wednesday might have given the Spaniard a better idea about his foot’s condition and if he could fight for this third Major title of the year or not.
Nadal Set To Return To Wimbledon 2022?
Rafael Nadal was seen on the crutches after his treatment in Barcelona. Rafa took a few days of rest and slowly began exercising before practicing on the grass for the first time in Mallorca earlier this week.
In a recent video by Mallorca Championships, Nadal is seen working hard on his shots. He looked to be moving easily and comfortably on his feet. Thus, it is likely that Nadal will make a return to Wimbledon. He the tournament due to the same injury last year. If Nadal is fit enough to play, he will have an opportunity to win his third Grand Slam in 2022. Moreover, Rafa’s win in Paris led to him winning the first two majors of the year for the first time in his long career. He will be the no. 2 seed after Novak Djokovic if he plays.
The current world no. 1 Daniil Medvedev will not appear due to Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players. In addition, Alexander Zverev will miss out on the major tournament due to an ankle injury. The german tennis star injured himself during the French Open semifinals against Nadal. Before missing Wimbledon last year, Rafa reached the semifinals in 2018 and 2019. Thus, Rafa will look to win at Wimbledon this year and take his Grand Slam count to 23.