This month the most pressing question
in tennis has changed. No longer is it: can Andy Murray win a Grand
Slam? It is: when will Rafael Nadal be back, and will he be the same
Rafa as before?
It would be
pleasing to report that, three months into his enforced absence from
the sport, the 26-year-old Spaniard can answer in the same emphatic
fashion that Murray did at Flushing Meadows two weeks ago.
You
would hope Nadal, this most affable and exceptional athlete, could put a
firm timeline on his progress and state when he will return to what is
now a much changed landscape at the top of men’s tennis.
Anguish: Rafael Nadal has not been seen on a tennis court since his surprise second-round loss at Wimbledon
Yet, as we sit in one of Madrid’s
plushest boutique hotels, it becomes apparent that he cannot, and that
he is unlikely to play again this year.
In
his first major interview since Wimbledon, he talks of his anguish at
missing the Olympics, his joy at Murray’s triumph in New York and his
frustration at having to play so much on the hard courts which have so
damaged his knees.
It is
impossible to escape the topic of his patella, which has prevented him
from setting foot on a tennis court since losing in the second round at
Wimbledon to Czech unknown Lukas Rosol at the end of June.
Nadal
is on a painful regime of rehab and strengthening exercises and
swimming at least a kilometre every morning. The one consolation is that
he has been allowed to play some amateur golf tournaments in Majorca,
and that his handicap is down below four.
Forever in pain: Nadal is tended to by a physio
But he is still not back on court and
is almost certain to miss the Barclays ATP World Finals at the O2 Arena
in November and, most probably, Spain’s appointment in the Davis Cup
final.
‘All that is in my
mind is to keep working hard to come back,’ he says. ‘I cannot think
about the future because it’s not like if you break your arm and you
know you will have a few weeks like this, then a few weeks like that and
then you are back. This is a day-by-day thing, I have checks every week
to see how I’m improving. I can’t predict what will happen.’
No
athlete enjoys talking about injuries, especially one as long-running
as this, a tear in the tendon and a general wearing of the tissue pad
under the bone, yet he patiently indulges the inevitable inquiries.
‘I
hope you see me in Australia,’ says Nadal, who is in the Spanish
capital to promote his involvement with PokerStars. ‘That is the biggest
goal for me, to come back just before then in Qatar, but I cannot say
for sure it is going to happen.
‘The
only thing is to recover well. I want to be 100 per cent when I come
back. I don’t want to keep playing every day with doubts, not knowing if
my knee is going to answer all the questions.’
When it comes to the unthinkable — an
early end to his career — there is defiance, and he points out that
‘nobody has had to retire with what I have’. But he can only look back
on a summer of despair since his remarkable seventh triumph at the
French Open in early June.
‘Was it a mistake to play at
Wimbledon? Maybe, but when you are playing well it is hard to stop. At
Roland Garros I had to play with anti-inflammatories to get through.
After that I felt really bad. My practice before Wimbledon was terrible.
I played the first round with injections, otherwise it would have been
impossible. That doesn’t help the knee.
‘I’ve
played a lot in pain before as other people have done. The problem is
when you run and you are thinking about where you are planting your leg.
It is impossible to compete like that.
At home on clay: Nadal won the French Open title earlier this year
‘For me the Olympics was very
tough. I was very, very sad for three weeks around then. I had the
chance to carry the Spanish flag. It only comes every four years.
Missing the US Open was hard but you think you will have more chances.
‘The Olympics is once every four
years and you don’t know how many more you will get. I will work very
hard to be in Rio but it is in four years. I am 26-and-a-half, I love
competition, playing tennis, and this was actually a season I enjoyed
playing more than others. I have the motivation to come back and that’s
what I’m going to try.’
The
mood lightens when the subject turns to Murray, whose success in New
York Nadal elegantly describes as ‘the normal evolution of a great
player and a great talent’.
Good friends: Nadal was delighted to see Andy Murray win his first grand slam at the US Open this month
INSIGHT: PHYSIO MARK LEATHER
What began as an inflammation of the tendon in Nadal’s right knee (patella tendinitis) has become a degeneration of the tendon.
It
becomes torn and frayed and will not be as strong. The idea behind
surgery is to clean the area and generate fresh healing and a
better-structured tendon. Tennis involves eccentric muscle work with a
lot of acceleration followed by rapid deceleration.
It
is that stamping of the foot as you fix and flex the leg to play a shot
with all your body weight that keeps antagonising the tendon. The
harder the surface, the worse it is, as more force is transmitted up
from your ankle through your tendon.
At
this stage of rehab he’ll be testing the muscles around his knee,
getting the tendon working again, even miming the movement of a shot on a
soft surface. There are treadmills that control the amount of body
weight you are putting through your legs. But you can’t just concentrate
on the tendon as you’re over-compensating and something else can go
wrong.
Psychology is also
key to rehab. Injured athletes must accept the overall timescale but
also have recovery targets for every day.
‘You know I’ve said many times in
press conferences that Andy would win a Grand Slam and now he has won.
He deserves it more than anyone. I am very happy for him. The normal
thing is that it will help him. When you are winning tournaments like
this your confidence is higher, it is easier to repeat what you’ve done
before. It’s good for tennis that he has come to the level that was
expected.’
Aside from doing
everything to be back as strong as ever, he does not rule out changing
his schedule to take in more clay events, such as those in South America
in February.
‘I can’t
pretend not to play on hard courts when two of the Slams are on hard
courts, but there is a mistake with our game. You don’t watch
footballers playing on a hard surface, or basketball players, those
sports with rapid movements.
‘It’s
not going to change for me and my generation. Hard courts are very
negative for the body. I know the sport is a business and creating these
courts is easier than clay or grass, but I am 100 per cent sure it is
wrong. I may have to play more on clay than before but there aren’t that
many options.’
Andre
Agassi once claimed Nadal’s vigorous playing style meant he was ‘writing
cheques that his body can’t cash’. He has proved the likes of Agassi
wrong before; many will hope he does so again.
Nadal
was launching PokerStars’ Rafa’s Dream Day, where fans can win the
chance to meet, play tennis and compete against him in an intimate poker
game in Majorca. Details at www.pokerstars.com
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