Rafael Nadal’s words at the awards gala of his Foundation in Mallorca caused an uproar in the world of tennis. It is that the fans awaited the return of the 36-year-old athlete at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000, from April 8 to 16. However, the Spaniard cast doubts on the date of his return to action.
“I continue my course and I don’t know when I’ll play again, that’s the truth. I am in a phase of increasing work. If I knew when I was going to come back, I would say so, but I don’t know, ”he surprised him, sincere. “I cannot confirm that I will play in Monte Carlo, things are looking up day by day. I prefer to say things when I really know them, ”he stressed. Consequently, we will have to wait if he decides to risk returning to the courts without being at 100% or defers his return to deepen his preparation and not lose competitiveness.
Physical problems are the ones that have diminished his prominence: he has not played since January 18, when he lost in three sets to the American Mackenzie MacDonald in the second round of the Australian Open. It was immediately confirmed that he suffered a grade 2 injury to the iliopsoas in his left leg. Beyond the various ailments that afflicted him, there is one that is chronic with which he has learned to live in order to continue competing: Müller-Weiss syndrome, a degenerative lesion on his left foot.
As a symptom of how injuries took their toll on his career, on March 20 he left the top ten for the first time in 18 years, since he rose to number 7 in 2005 to stay within the tennis elite until today. 912 weeks had to elapse: since he did not play the Indian Wells Masters 1000 in which he defended the final, the lost points and the combination with the rise of other rising tennis players gave way to the fall. As of today he is on the 13th step, behind Cameron Norrie and Jannik Sinner.
The Spaniard is one of the two legs of the Big Three that continues to battle along with Novak Djokovic, after the retirement of Roger Federer. Nadal and the Serbian share the top of the list of most winning players in Grand Slam, with 22 conquests. Behind comes the Swiss, with 20. Rafa holds 14 titles at Roland Garros, 4 US Open, 2 Wimbledon and 2 Australian Open.