The Lefty’s back.
Rafa’s interview with TVE1 was aired on SBS in Australia this morning, not that I understood a single word of it. Doesn’t matter – I kinda went deaf when I saw footages of Rafa training topless in the pool anyway.
JAIME REINA/AFP/Getty Images
From what I gather, Rafa mainly talked about his injury, and why he chose to pull out of Wimbledon:
Rafael Nadal says treatment on his painful knees has allowed a return to serious training and he hopes to defend his Montreal ATP title in two weeks.
Speaking for the first time since he withdrew from Wimbledon and didn’t defend his title at the All England Club, Nadal said he had grown tired of always playing tennis with searing pain in his knees.
“I had spent several months like this and when I came back from Miami (in April) it really hurt badly, especially my right knee, and the truth is that it was a different pain,” Nadal told Spanish TVE1 television on Tuesday.
Nadal said the severe pain in the upper part of his right kneecap convinced him he could not carry on playing through the agony, a decision that made him withdraw from Wimbledon.
The former world No.1 said he had become used to playing with pain, relying on anti-inflammatories and decided after failing to win a fifth successive French Open that it was time to try to solve the problem.
He said he had played Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Madrid with the pain (and won the first three).
It was at the Madrid Masters, where he lost in the final to Roger Federer 6-4 6-4 a week before the French Open, that he sought medical advice.
“One gets tired of always having to play with pain,” Nadal said.
The Spaniard said it was his hope and his dream to be in Montreal for the Rogers Cup, which he has won twice, including last year.
Source: Tennis Australia
If anything the interview sent out a message that the Spaniard has been working harder than ever on his game, with various footage of Rafa’s training drills aired during the interview. I hardly noticed them, since I was too busy watching Rafa’s left eyebrow wriggle whenever he got excited. That will never fail to crack me up.
8 responses to “The Lefty’s back.”
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Who the hell is dootsiez?
Melbournian lawyer. Blogger. Unapologetic Federer tragic.
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All I need is a picket fence ... 
Ouch that sounds nasty; didn’t actually realise the “searing” pain was quite that bad.
I’m in favour of him taking all the time he needs even if that means missing out on Montreal.
That said players have had and played through tendinitis before. Rafas still very young – though he’ll need to be more wary about his scheduling one thinks.
I’m still bummed about him playing Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome even though he started getting a different kind of pain in Miami. It had to take a few losses for him to seek help and take time out. Very poor decision-making from his team. It’s not like this isn’t a persistent problem.
Bah!
He’s had quite a bit of time off though – Rafa’s only played 2 exhos since the end of May. I think he’ll bounce back just fine. 😀
Isn’t it ironic that the old guy (Fed) is more able to play through aches and pains compared to the young ones (Nadal, Djokovic-can’t-breathe-or-the-heat-is-killing-me, etc.) that are after his throne?
Fed doesn’t wait for his body to breakdown before he takes a break, he tries to preempt injuries – after AO this year for example.
Wish I was less bitter about all the cynicism in the media when he withdrew from Davis Cup and Dubai back then.
Mia – the younger guys play a more athletic, physical style. It’s expected they will have more breakdowns. They rely on physicality to take down Federer, as they can’t compete on a pure shot-making basis.
Agree to some extent, Rafa’s game is naturally physical and I do expect his body to break down once in a while. His schedule does him a disservice though.
Not so sure about Djokovic, I’m a little cynical about his “physical problems”.
Note to Rafa-If your knees are bothering you that much then you seriously need to think about changing your game. Good luck to you.
I don’t know about changing his game, especially when I think back to how many times people told Federer to change his game? Each player must work with what they’ve got.
But changing his schedule is a must.