"I have pain here, in my famous a**" - When Rafael Nadal joked about his injury following Australian Open 2007 QF loss
Former World No. 1 Rafael Nadal once joked about his injury after losing in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Australian Open to Fernando Gonzalez.
Nadal was already dealing with injury issues before the start of the Melbourne Slam that year, having missed it in 2006. The Spaniard defeated Robert Kendrick, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray before losing to Gonzalez in the last eight.
Nadal was having problems throughout the match. He took a medical time-out and left the court while leading in the third set. Later, in a press conference, he blamed his loss on a leg injury, claiming that the pain developed after his marathon five-set win over Murray.
"I don't feel the pain in the match of Murray, no? I feel later. I feel after. Well, I don't know. I was thinking was just tired. Normal. I was playing very tough match, I just feel tired. Maybe is not just tired, because is not normal. Walking right now I have lot of pain. Maybe is a little bit more than tired," he said.
When asked which part of his leg was hurting, the 22-time Grand Slam champion joked, saying:
"Well, it's not just the one place. I have pain here, in my famous a**(smiling). After I feel a little bit here, too (pointing to the inside and outside of the thigh). That maybe it's just tired, no? But down this way and in the a** is very, very painful, no?"
Rafael Nadal: "I was fighting a lot for being in this quarterfinals, but these things happening sometimes"
Rafael Nadal then elaborated more on his 2007 Australian Open quarterfinal loss to Fernando Gonzalez. The Spaniard was not disappointed by his defeat because he believed he gave it his all to reach that stage.
"Well, disappointing, no, because I was playing fine. I was playing good," Nadal said. "I was winning very important match two days ago against Murray. I was with good confidence for try to play this quarterfinals and try to go to the final, no? But, well, that's it. I was trying my best all the time. I was fighting a lot for being in this quarterfinals."
"But these things happening sometimes. Well, it's not a problem. If I am playing bad, something, well, you can go to the home and say disappointing. But today I just say, well, I can't do more. I try my best. Well, that's it," he continued.
The 37-year-old won the hardcourt Slam for the first time in 2009, defeating Roger Federer in the final. He won the tournament again 13 years later in 2022, overcoming a five-set thriller against Daniil Medvedev.