Emma fitness race as Rafa returns
Nadal on front foot for Wimbledon but Rad’s on ropes
RAFA NADAL has said he will bid to win the third leg of a historic calendar Grand Slam at Wimbledon.
But Emma Raducanu’s latest setback means the British No.1 will not play in Eastbourne next week – and she is now in a race to get fit for her home Grand Slam.
Australian Open champion Nadal admitted he could not continue taking painkilling injections in his left foot after winning his
14th French crown at Roland Garros earlier this month. That raised fears he would sidestep the All England Club.
But the Spaniard, 36, has since twice visited Barcelona for “pulsed radiofrequency stimulation” to dull the nerves in his foot.
He started training on grass in Mallorca on Monday – and yesterday declared he will travel to London in pursuit of a 23rd Grand Slam title in SW19.
“My intention is to play at Wimbledon,” said Nadal. “The treatment and the last week of training tells me there is a chance. I’m happy. I’ve felt a bit of pain but it’s different to what I had before, which for me is progress.
“I have noticed a difference, some slightly strange feelings to be honest, but the joint pain has reduced. I will travel to London on Monday, play an exhibition at Hurlingham, and do a week of training to see if it’s possible.
“I haven’t played Wimbledon for three years and I’m excited. I don’t know what can happen in five days, I’m cautious, but what has happened so far gives me hope that I can be present.”
Rod Laver, now 83, twice won all four Grand Slams in a calendar year – in 1962 and 1969. Asked about repeating the feat, Nadal said: “The last man to do it was Rod Laver 60 years ago. It’s hard to think I can do it at 36.”
Raducanu (left) will enter Wimbledon without completing a match on grass since SW19 last year after passing up the chance to accept a wild card to the Rothesay International Eastbourne.
The US Open winner had to pull out after only seven games of her first-round match in Nottingham with a side strain – the third time she has retired from a match since her New York triumph.