ATP: Toni Nadal: “Rafa would rather have won less – and less pain”

Rafael Nadal continues to be injured – the knee continues to cause great problems. On Wednesday he cancelled his appearances in Beijing and Shanghai. It’s no wonder: Uncle Toni recently reminded us of the health sacrifices his nephew makes for his victories.

At the Australian Open 2017 a quite remarkable exchange of words took place. Rafael Nadal was asked if he was painless after he had been out of service for a long time at the end of 2016. “What do you mean painless?”, checked with Nadal. “Do you have injuries that affect you?” So the reporter concretised. Answer Nadal: “I’m not hurt, no. But painless – that was a long time ago.”

Uncle Toni also knows the price Nadal pays in quite unhealthy competitive tennis, especially in his physical play. “Rafael has been living with pain and painkillers since 2005,” he said recently. “He has always weighed his health with victories and often told me that he would have preferred to have won less if he had less pain.”

I started everything with a foot injury in 2005, a specialist had declared Nadal’s career to be over at the time. Many times it was not possible to finish training at this time. “He usually had to take painkillers because the pain got worse when the games lasted longer.” Although special insoles would have solved the foot problem, “it started with problems in the knee, back and other parts of his body.

How long Nadal will continue to bring his love of tennis and competition to bear? Questionable. Shortly after his French Open victory in 2018, he stated for the record: “We will make a decision in the coming months as to whether or not we will be here again next year”.

Another possibility, however, could help the “Bull from Manacor” to an extended career: the exclusive concentration on tournaments on clay court. Especially the participation in hard court tournaments seems to push Nadal’s body to its limits.