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The path of the tennis player to win his 21st Grand Slam has come after an ordeal due to his chronic scaphoid injury and the work on a mental, physical and technical level to overcome the situation.
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“Not one gram more than necessary to preserve his foot and achieve more explosiveness, resistance and power,” explains Francis Roig, one of his trainers.
How to explain that just three months ago Raphael NadaHe was walking with crutches and was thinking about stopping playing tennis, to see him bite the cup, win his 21st Grand Slam, in Australia, on the most unaffordable court for the Balearic tennis player?
How to explain that new resurrection, on the way to 36 years old, when he left for Melbourne, “unprepared”, more out of a desire to feel like a tennis player and compete, than out of the conviction that he could achieve “the most unexpected victory of my life” , as he himself admitted?
“He never ceases to impress me every day, but he is also surprised by what he does”
What fountain of youth Nadal drinks from, you have to wonder. Not even his environment is able to explain it. “He never ceases to impress me every day, but he is also surprised by what he does,” he said. Carlos Moya.
“The determining factor is in the head, not in the physique,” he highlights Tony Nothinghim, to explain his nephew’s triumph. “Rafael is used to not complaining since he was a child, to never give up and to work every day”.
“Surprised and Shocked”
Very far from Melbourne, but aware of everything that Nadal has experienced, his also coach, Francis Kingg, was “surprised and amazed. It came with very few options, without filming. Just a few months ago, many days I couldn’t even train because of the pain”, recalls the coach.
The mental part is the engine that moves Nadal but to achieve this the tennis player has intensely crushed his body in the engine room together with Moyà, Roig, his lifelong physio Rafa Maymó and the newly incorporated Mark Lopez, Olympic doubles champion with the Balearic tennis player in Rio de Janeiro.
“You only have to watch the videos from when he started on the circuit, at the age of 15, to see the change. Rafa is another player. It has nothing to do with it”, highlights Roig.
And that evolution that Nadal has led, with a spirit of improvement, of constant, unique work, that has never stopped, not even when injuries have forced him to be in the dry dock for 42 months of his professional career, has been fundamental for get all his hits and that miraculous resurrection in Australia.
damn scaphoid
Nadal was detected Müller Weiss Syndrome with 19 years. A degenerative disease that causes chronic pain in the scaphoid that has affected his knee injuries, especially. They told him he couldn’t play tennis but he didn’t give up. He sought solutions with special insoles for his feet, then injections of growth cells to recover his damaged knees due to changing support positions, until in 2021, the damn scaphoid made his life bitter again.
I got to be very lame, three months before I thought about withdrawing “
Nadal underwent a small surgical intervention to improve a chronic injury, which will accompany him throughout his life. “We tried not to hurt so much,” explained the tennis player. But the process was not easy. “I became very lame and thought I would never play tennis again. I was thinking of withdrawing three months ago”, he explained.
When the pain allowed him and he felt he could play, he wanted to test himself in Abu Dhabi. “If I break, I break,” he told his team. The test went well. He did not win matches but the pain no longer plagued him and he decided to travel to Australia. Nadal hardly did preseason, but he had prepared himself to face the challenge, if the body allowed it.
essential changes
Nadal appeared in Melbourne with four kilos less, “not one gram more fat than necessary”, says Roig, something fundamental to not force his feet and “have more explosiveness on the court, resistance and power”, he adds.
Technically he has also worked on his serve, the usual Achilles curtain. In Australia he has been able to serve at more than 210 km/h and maintain an average speed of 186 km/h with his first serve. “In that there is still room for more improvement,” says demanding Roig.
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In the evolution of the game, Nadal has worked on “attacking the ball earlier and looking for the volley to close the point”. He has also improved the slice backhand, Roig’s special ability when he played. “Now he no longer leaves it floating, he knows how to lengthen it and lower it to the opponent’s feet, as he did with Medvedev”.
Nadal is another. Feel like a tennis player again. The victory in Australia has “filled with energy”. And it is true. After thinking that he would never play again, he feels strong enough to compete, for nights like the Melbourne final. He loves competition and, if he is healthy, he will continue to fight hard.
