Rafael Nadal Opens Up On Injury Absence And Davis Cup Return

Rafael Nadal has failed to complete a single tournament since losing the Shanghai Masters final to Roger Federer in October 2017 due to multiple injury setbacks.

The Spaniard ended the 2017 campaign as world number one, but did not play the season ending tournaments in Paris and London owing to a knee injury before returning at the start of 2018 at for Australian Open.

Nadal failed to complete the first Grand Slam of the year as he retired midway through his quarter-finals against Marin Cilic with a hip injury. He was scheduled to return at the Mexico Open in Acapulco in February, but suffered a recurrence just prior to the start of the tournament, which forced him to subsequently withdraw from the Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami.

The 31-year-old was forced to stop training after the recurrence of his injury with his doctor recommending maximum rest and limited playing time. Nadal admits it has been tough to miss large chunks of the season in recent years through injury, but accepts that it is part of being a sportsman.

“I have been practising in Acapulco and then I get injured just a day before the competition starts so I had to restart all the process, stop for 25 days and then start slow again,” Nadal said, as quoted by the Express.

“So there have been some tough moments for the last few months but that is sport and that’s part of my career too," he added.

Nadal has since returned to full training and will make his debut when Spain take on Germany in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup. The 12-time men’s singles Grand Slam champion will play Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second singles rubber on Friday.

The Spaniard has an enviable 22-1 record in Davis Cup singles matches, with his only loss coming in 2004 when he was a 17-year-old. Nadal has been part of four Davis Cup winning teams thus far and is keen to help his team progress to the last four.

“Here I am very excited to try to help the team to be in the semi-finals,” he added looking forward to the upcoming Davis Cup quarter-finals between Spain and Germany.

Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya recently revealed Nadal is still not 100% fit, going into the match against Germany, but admits a couple of wins will give him the confidence needed ahead of his return to the ATP Tour.

The 10-time French Open winner is also hoping he is ready to return to competitive action despite stating it would have been better to play best of three sets rather than best of five, which is the format the Davis Cup follows.

“No, probably will be better to come back in the best of three sets, not best of five sets,” Nadal was quoted as saying by the Express. “After a long period of time without playing, coming back and playing best of five is always a little bit tougher and a little bit more risky."

“But I feel that I did the right things, the right recovery, the practice during the last week [has gone] well so I hope to be ready for it.”

Nadal’s appearance for Spain in the Davis Cup will be followed by his return to the ATP Tour at the Monte Carlo Masters, which signals the beginning of the clay court swing of the season. He will start as world number one, but will have to defend the titles he won in Monaco, Barcelona and Madrid if he is to hold on to the top spot before the French Open begins in May.