Rafael Nadal plays down foot injury, days ahead of French Open 2022
- Rafael Nadal on Friday downplayed a foot injury, with days left for the French Open
- The Spaniard had suffered the injury during the Italian Open
- However, he trained publicly on Wednesday, suggesting a return to full fitness
Men’s world number five Rafael Nadal on Friday dismissed any lingering doubts over his foot injury, days ahead of the start of the French Open 2022 where he’s chasing a 14th title.
The 21-time Grand Slam winner had injured his foot in the Italian Open and lost to Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the third round as a result.
However, the Spaniard practiced in front of thousands of supporters at the Stade Roland Garros on Wednesday as he looked to return to fitness.
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Speaking to the press on Friday, the 35-year-old Spaniard dismissed speculation about his injury, saying, “There is nothing to recover. What happened in Rome is something that happened very often in my practices.”
“I was suffering after that for a couple of days, but I feel better. That’s why I’m here,” Nadal explained.
While the 35-year-old conceded that his injury was indeed a recurring foot problem, he appeared confident about managing the injury for this year’s edition of the French Open.
“The pain is there always. It’s not going to disappear now. It’s about if the pain is high and strong enough to allow me to play with real chances or not. It’s something that I live every day with, so it’s nothing new for me and is not a big surprise,” Nadal said, commenting on the nature of the injury.
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“So I am here just to play tennis and to try to make the best result possible here in Roland Garros. And if I don’t believe that this thing can happen, probably I will not be here,” the 35-year-old said.
A terrific start to the season saw Nadal win the Australian Open to overtake Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic and clinch a record 21st Grand Slam title.
However, Nadal missed several weeks of action subsequently after picking up a rib injury in his run to the Indian Wells final, which he lost to Taylor Fritz, marking his first loss of the season.
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