Rafael Nadal’s uncle said the champion tennis has been fighting with pain and taking pain medicine for more than ten years. He has relied heavily on painkillers to get through games due to constant pain injury.
Speaking to media, Toni Nadal, who is coaching for Nadal said that the 31-year-old tennis player’s career was likely pretty much finished.
“Since 2005, Rafal has been fighting with pain and has been taking pain medicine. Many times he told me that he would rather win a few games less in exchange for less pain. It all began with his capture.” Nadal’s uncle said to media.
“After the first French championship, Rafael suffered a pressure fracture of the scaphoid. The experts we met at the time told us that Rafael’s career was very likely to end.
“In 2005, Rafael had to constantly live in pain. From that time on we were unable to complete the training sessions a lot of the time.
“A lot of times, and almost always, he had to take painkillers because the pain become worse and worse as the game increased.
“Also because he wanted to solve the problem of foot injuries, he started to use insoles, but the he continued to knee, back and other parts of the body.” Nadal’s uncle added.
But even with injuries, Nadal is determined to make continuous improvements in tactics, especially in hard courts. The Spaniard reached the final eight times in the hard court and won three US Opens and an Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal was forcing out in the Australian Open 2018 in last January, due to a hip injury. (Source:www.rte.ie)
Toni Nadal added Rafael’s foot injury at the age of 19 led to further complications, and a career-long reliance on painkillers.
“He always has a strong and persistent personality. When he was very young, I would extend the training session in order to let him make progress.” Nadal’s uncle said.
“He has always been an obedient and gentle person, but also demonstrated his cleverness. But it all depends on his enthusiasm and dedication to the sport.
“You want to set long-term goal for yourself as much as possible, but use short-term goals to make every day progress.
“Many talented athletes have become losers, and I try not to let this happen to him. For this I have said many times that he is not good enough. I have always had great confidence in him. When I was old, I believed he would become the champion of Spain.” he added.
Nadal was forcing out in the quarter-finals in the Australian Open 2018 in last January due to his a hip injury. And he is keep recovering in the hope of participating next tournaments.
