"I am not injured, I am a player living with an injury" - Rafael Nadal after shock Italian Open defeat to Denis Shapovalov
Ten-time Italian Open champion Rafael Nadal succumbed to a 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 defeat by Denis Shapovalov on Thursday. Nadal was visibly struggling with his movement towards the end of the match, sparking fears on social media that his chronic foot injury might have resurfaced.
Speaking to the media after his loss, the Mallorcan admitted that he was suffering from a great deal of pain in his foot. It is pertinent to note that this condition, which has been bothering him since 2005, kept him on the sidelines for close to five months towards the end of last year.
"No, I have my foot," the Spaniard said. "That's all. I had my foot again with a lot of pain, and that's it."
Nadal was then asked for his thoughts regarding his Roland Garros preparation, given that his foot injury had resurfaced. In response, the 13-time French Open champion pointed out that his current ailment has been bothering him for a great deal of time and it's not something that has cropped up out of the blue.
"No, I am not injured," Nadal said. "I am a player living with an injury. That's it. No, no, is nothing new. It's something that is there."
Hard to watch 😔
A difficult end to the night for @RafaelNadal in Rome...
@InteBNLdItalia #ibi22 https://t.co/4oOyTrYP4Q
The 35-year-old revealed that his foot began to bother him midway through the second set and continued until the end of the match.
"Unfortunately my day-by-day is difficult, honestly," he continued. "Even like this, I am trying hard. Of course, it's difficult for me to accept the situation sometimes, no? Yeah, can be frustrating that a lot of days I can't practice the proper way. Then today at half the second set starts the thing, then wasn't playable for me."
Having elaborately spoken about how his injury affected his tennis, Rafael Nadal admitted that Denis Shapovalov deserved the win on the day.
"Well done for Denis. Sorry, I came straight away," said the Spaniard. "I don't want to take away any great from Denis. He deserve probably the way that he lost his match with me in Australia this year, and last year here. Today is for him. Well done for him, that's it."
Nadal was then asked if the pain was random or if it emanated from a specific kind of body movement. In response, he revealed that his pain was present "all the time."
"No, it's not comes," he explained. "Is there all the time."
The 10-time Italian Open champion admitted that the pain he suffered was "crazy" during his defeat to Shapovalov.
"Sometimes more, sometimes less. Today was crazy," he added. "That's it."
"I don't know. I would love to tell you another stuff, talk about tennis and talk about another thing," he added. "But today it's what there is. What can happen in the next couple of days, I don't know. What can happen in one week, I really don't know now."
"During the French Open, I'm going to have my doctor with me" - Rafael Nadal
Get well soon and hope to see you in Paris, @RafaelNadal 🧡
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During the media interaction, the 13-time French Open champion was asked how he plans to deal with his foot injury during the claycourt Major, which is due to begin on 22 May. He stressed that it is important for him to practice without pain but acknowledged that the ailment might resurface at any given time.
"First thing that I need to do is to don't have pain to practice, that's it. And the negative thing is today it's not possible to play for me," Nadal said. "But maybe in two days things are better, that's the thing that I have on my foot."
He went on to reveal that his physician would accompany him to Roland Garros in order to provide an extra layer of support.
"It's true that during the French Open, Roland Garros, I going to have my doctor there with me," the Spaniard said. "That sometime helps because you can do things."