'There were days when Rafael Nadal finished training with...', says top coach

There are times in life when it is necessary to take a step back to take a run, even when you are 35 years old and you are fighting to be the best tennis player in history. This is what Rafael Nadal has done when officially announcing that he will no longer compete in the remainder of 2021. With the intelligence that he has been displaying throughout his career, the Spaniard is aware that he has few bullets left in the chamber and is He must select his shots very well to continue enjoying tennis and opting for the best. The objective is none other than to reach the Australian Open 2022 in the best possible conditions, something for which he has had to give up two Grand Slams, the Olympic event and four Masters 1000. But, what consequences will this absence have so much prolonged from Spanish? It is necessary to remember that Nadal will start next season having played two official matches since June 6, the date on which he fell to Djokovic in the semifinals of Roland Garros 2021. Those two meetings in Washington are the ones that made him decide to take a break to face the final fireworks of his career with guarantees of being able to do something great.

Carlos Moya talks about Rafael Nadal

Now Rafael Nadal's coach Carlos Moya has given a few more details about the injury in an interview with El Transistor. Moya revealed that given the nature of Nadal's injury, the team decided that taking a break and returning refreshed for the 2022 season would be the best decision. "Rafa's main goal is to recover sensations in the foot and in the head, because going in fits and starts throughout the year has not helped him," Moya said. "He started with back pain in Australia, he has played only seven events this year. He missed Wimbledon, the Olympics and now the US Open and the Masters." Moya added that Nadal has unpredictable days when it comes to his foot injury, and that the team wasn't yet sure of the best way to treat it. "There were days when he finished training with a limp and the next day he was fine," Moya said. "We don't know where this injury is coming from. There is a diagnosis but it is not clear what the best treatment is." This will be just the third calendar year since 2005 where Nadal will go without a Grand Slam. While he has two ATP titles in 2021, his current predicament is one in a long list of injuries he suffered this year.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2XOId6D