Nadal walks injury tightrope
AUSTRALIAN tennis fans are being on put on notice to catch Rafael Nadal while they can.
It’s been 15 years since the Spaniard captured the hearts of Australia with his first jawdropping appearance at Melbourne Park, when he pushed then world No.1 and local hero Lleyton Hewitt in three gripping sets.
He was just another upand-coming teenager then, but now, with 17 grand slam titles under his belt, he has built a mighty reputation with his never-say-die approach. But his time is running out. Though he insists the thought of retirement hasn’t even entered his mind, his body has been telling him otherwise and at age 32, there are no guarantees how much longer he can go.
The writing has been on the wall for years, but never more so than in 2018, when he had to quit his Australian Open quarter-final against Marin Cilic because of a sore leg, then limped out of his US Open semi with Juan Martin del Potro with a knee problem. He lost his No.1 world ranking when he pulled out of the Paris Masters and the seasonending ATP Championships to undergo yet another operation, and while he insists he’s fit again, he’s hoping, rather than expecting, he’ll remain injury-free next year.
“My health now is well, I had an ankle surgery at the end of the season but it was a minor surgery,” he said. “I took some time off with my family and that allowed me to feel great with a lot of will to start the pre-season.
“The most important thing is to stay healthy and if I manage to do that I hopefully will remain competitive.”
That’s about as close as Nadal has come to admitting that his time in the sport is now limited, so he has vowed to empty the tank in a bid to win a second Australian Open.
While he’s won the French Open 11 times, the US Open three times and Wimbledon twice, his frustrating nearmisses at Melbourne Park have robbed him of achieving something not even great rival Roger Federer has managed. The only two men to have won each of the four grand slams at least twice are Australians Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.