His umpteenth physical problem, this time in the abdomen, forced the Spaniard to leave for a Grand Slam match for the second time in his career
Rafael Nadal’s tone was serious and sad at the press conference that confirmed his retirement from Wimbledon. He missed a unique opportunity because of yet another physical problem with his body. This one was especially painful because the foot, the most worrisome chronic injury of all, gave him a break. «It seems that the foot is more controlled and that it allows me to enjoy tennis. Now that I’m risking an injury that could cost me a significant amount of time without playing… I’m trying to prioritize what my personal happiness is, over any title or success,” explained Nadal on Thursday, who has another year. will add without winning at the All England Club, where it has not been crowned since 2010 and where it has not played a final since 2011.
The Spaniard missed eleven Grand Slam events in his career, the first in 2003, at Roland Garros, due to an elbow injury. Since then, he has missed the Paris appointment once, in 2004, due to chronic foot pain, twice in Australia, four in Wimbledon and three in New York. The knees, wrist, stomach viruses and tendons are the culprits that Nadal is not now adding another Grand Slam to his record 22, two above Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
In addition, injuries have forced Nadal to wave the white flag during a match ten times in his career. The first, in a Challenger in France in 2003, when he was out of the top 40 in the world; the latter, in the 2018 US Open semifinal against Juan Martín del Potro due to a knee problem.
The option to retire mid-game is always the one that hurts the Spaniards the most. “I’ve thought about it for a long time,” he said of the quarterfinal match against Taylor Fritz, when his family advised him to leave the match. “But I’ve done it a few times and I hate it. It’s very hard to leave Wimbledon Center Court in a quarter-final,” he added.
It’s also the turn of the man from Manacor to get out of several tournaments as soon as they start. It has happened to him seven times, the last before the semi-final scheduled for next Friday against Australian Nick Kyrgios. The first was at Estoril 2004 and was followed by Miami 2012, Roland Garros 2016, when he failed to beat Marcel Granollers in the third round, Paris-Bercy 2017, Indian Wells 2019 and Paris-Bercy 2019.
In the case of Novak Djokovic, the Serb has stopped in 13 games in his career, 10 of them before 2011 and just three in the last 11 years. And he only had to say goodbye once in the middle of a tournament, at the 2011 Paris-Bercy Masters.
Roger Federer has been even more untouchable than the Balkans. In the 1,526 ATP matches he played, the Swiss has never retired during a match. An incredible record considering the Helvetian’s longevity on the track, where he built up 24 years as a professional. He had to leave in the midst of competitions, although he has only taken this option five times, the first at Paris-Bercy 2008 (the tournament that penalizes tennis players the most for being the last Masters of the year) and the last at Roland Garros 2021.
The positive thing about Nadal’s setback at Wimbledon is that it shouldn’t be too serious a priori. Manacor’s confirmed that he expected to be able to train from the bottom of the court in a week and that the period of loss in the competition should be between three and four weeks. If he had forced himself and continued to compete in London, the rupture of the fibers in the abs would have been much worse, costing him several months.
His goal from now on is to compete in the Masters 1,000 in Montreal, which starts on August 5, and which will serve as preparation for the US Open, where he will compete in the main tournaments of this year with a stunning record of 19-0. 2022, colored only by the withdrawal from Wimbledon when he was just one game away from the grand final.
Source: La Verdad
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