THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with a statement.
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, just, hello. I’m here to announce that I have to retire from the tournament because I have a problem in my wrist that I have had a couple of weeks. Every day that happens is stronger, and I arrived here with a little bit of pain but something that I think I was able to manage.
Every day was a little bit worse. We tried to do all the treatments possible. Every single day we spent a lot of hours here working so hard to try to play. Yesterday I played with an injection on the wrist with anesthetic, just to sleep my wrist, to play.
I could play, but the thing is yesterday night I start to feel more and more pain, and today in the morning I feel that I could not move much the wrist. So I came here, I did MRI, and I did echography.
Well, and the results are not positive. The real thing is not 100%, you know. It’s not broked, but if I keep playing gonna be broked next couple of days. Every day the image is a little bit worse.
It’s obvious that if it’s not Roland Garros I will probably not take risks on playing the first two days, but is the most important event of the year for me so we tried our best. We take risks yesterday. That’s why we played with anesthetic injection, so without feeling at all on the wrist.
But, you know, when I am coming to Roland Garros, I am coming — today I am coming thinking about winning the tournament. To win the tournament I need five more matches, and the doctor says that’s 100% impossible. That gonna be 100% broked. I cannot say in English because I don’t know exactly the name. Is I think is the sheath of the tendon.
So if I continue playing, then will be impossible to finish the tournament. Is no chance that I can even practice more today. That’s it. I have to take that very bad decision for me, but just that’s part of the life, part of my career, too.
I gonna keep going hard to recover as quick as possible and try to be back the next couple of years here having some more opportunities.
THE MODERATOR: Few more questions in English and switch to Spanish.
Q. I guess it’s the same pain you had before Monte-Carlo. You said it was going on maybe even before Melbourne. Is it the same injury you’re carrying?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. No, it’s another thing. Is not the same. I start to had that problem. I felt something against Sousa in Madrid. Next day in Madrid against Andy I played with mesotherapy to sleep a little bit the place and to have less pain, and worked because I could play.
Then that was Saturday. On Sunday I was in Barcelona. I traveled all the way to Barcelona to do all the tests, to check if I am able to play in Rome or not. So I went to Barcelona during Sunday in the morning. I spent all day there doing MRI and echography and all the tests, and the doctor told me that there is nothing really bad.
So I accept that, and I wanted to go to Rome and I went to Rome. I played only with anti-inflammatories. So I could play well. I played three matches and was okay.
But when I come back to Mallorca I felt a little bit more. And as I say before, when I arrived here, every day is worse. I cannot play with my forehand. That’s the real thing.
Q. How long will you be away from the tennis court? Do you think you’ll be fit for Wimbledon?
RAFAEL NADAL: We’re gonna work hard to be ready for Wimbledon. For the moment I need a couple of weeks with that, you know, with the immobilization.
Then we’re gonna do the treatment, and we hope the treatment works well. We expect to recover quick, to be ready for Wimbledon, no? But at this moment, you know, it’s not a moment to talk about that.
It’s just a moment to go day by day, to work hard. I hope to have a fast recovery.
Q. Is this an injury you anticipate might require surgery at some point? Have you talked to the doctor and he said that might be necessary at some point to recover?
RAFAEL NADAL: Not surgery at all at the moment. If I keep playing, yes.
Q. I just wanted to ask just to make sure. It’s your left?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yes.
Q. I think you had a wrist problem two years ago, as well, didn’t you?
RAFAEL NADAL: It was in the right.
Q. It was in the right. So this is completely new?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yes.
Q. How difficult is it to take given how hard you have worked to get fit after your other injury problems?
RAFAEL NADAL: Is not about an injury like the knee that don’t have — we couldn’t find solution. Is a solution for this, and not very long-term solution. So I hope and we hope that it gonna be quick.
But the real thing is today is one of the toughest press conference in my career, probably. You know, having to pull out of probably the tournament that I have — well, it’s obvious that the tournament that is more important, more important tournament in my career, and at the same time a tournament that I feel that if I am well I always have my chances.
I think I am working so hard and I worked so hard to recover the level, and I think I was there. I played the last month and a half at very high level competing against everybody, and I felt myself ready for this tournament.
But it happen what’s happen. The only thing that I can say is bad luck and that’s part of our life. At the same time, for nine times in my career I have been able to be healthy here and to win this tournament.
Now is a tough moment, but is not the end. I feel myself with the right motivation and the right energy to be back in Roland Garros the next couple of years, and I really hope to keep having my chances in the future.
At the same time, is a tournament that I love so much. I feel the love of the people not only in the crowd, I feel that the crowd is supporting me a lot, but at the same time during the whole tournament, no? The organization, all the people who work in the tournament, we always had a great relationship. I have a close relationship with a lot of people that works here.
So, for me, is a very tough moment because you expect and you wait for these two weeks for the whole year, and have to retire today is a very bad news for me.
THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish.
Q. It might be easier for you. You were talking about the sheath.
RAFAEL NADAL: It’s not new. I have already said so, since Madrid in the match against Joao I felt this pain. But the pain was much lighter in Rome, and here it’s quite the opposite. It’s become worse and worse.
So there comes a time when I can’t hit the ball anymore. I can’t do this at all. I couldn’t hit a single ball. I played the match with anesthetics. I was ready to run the risk all the way to the limit, but there comes a time where you simply can’t go on.
I did all the tests that I needed, and I trust Angel fully. (Sound cutting out.) I think we have really reached the limit when we had pain. I could always move forward, but Angel always helped me to play to the limit. This time he says that I can’t play.
That is just the truth beyond the fact that I can’t do the forehand. Angel says he cannot inject anesthetics into my wrist for five more games. He says it’s impossible. I needed five more matches. But if my wrist cannot withstand five more matches, I simply cannot play.
It’s true that the sheath of the tendon is suffering. It’s a complex situation. Things have worsened. It’s really inflamed. A few days ago, the wrist was, say, X, and now it’s a fact. If I go on playing it’s going to break and it will mean months off the circuit.
In the current condition of my wrist it might just take a few weeks without moving. So I just need to face reality and stay calm. We have done everything we could. We have reached the end of our tether here in what was possible. We did everything that we could. Everything I was told to do, I did.
Unfortunately, that was not enough. You need to face the facts. We need to work. I’ll be back.
Q. I’m really sorry for you. I’m sorry for the tournament and for everyone. But you’ve had quite a few injuries in the past. You were unlucky in the past. Is this actually more serious? Are you more optimistic or less optimistic than you were, say, when you had other injuries?
RAFAEL NADAL: It’s not that serious. Everyone seems to think that it will take a couple of weeks, perhaps a month for things to improve, and the issue will be resolved. There is a solution. It’s not like when I had issues with my knee, because there we really couldn’t see the end of the tunnel here.
There is a diagnosis; there is a treatment; there is a time frame for immobilization. Of course medicine is not mathematics. You can’t merely rely on the dates that your treatment is supposed to end.
Maybe I’ll be three months off the circuit.
Q. So now in the French Open you took a number of risks because it was the French Open. Are you stop taking risks until you fully got over that?
RAFAEL NADAL: Taking the decision to withdraw, to retire from a competition such as this one, which is the most important in my career, to reach that decision you can imagine how tough it was.
So today I can tell you that I will not play before I have recovered entirely. But as I was saying, it’s not like I was saying it was a knee. If I hadn’t gotten over the knee — you know, a knee can last forever. But here it’s the wrist. And every time I hit the ball I can’t play. I can’t have pain every time I use a forehand.
And the pain is increasing, and I cannot play forehand at all. There’s no way I can play before I can use the forehand, you know.
Q. Mentally, of course, this injury is tough because it’s a special tournament for you. It’s also unfortunate because you were playing fantastically well, as you said in previous conferences.
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, yes, of course it’s never good news. I would have preferred if this had been last year. We had done our homework. I was moving forward. I played at very high level for several weeks. Unfortunately, this has to stop now, but I certainly hope it will just be a brief incident and that I can fully recover.
The game that I have developed over the past few weeks when I have come back onto the circuit, when you’re on the right way, the right track, and you feel you have made efforts to achieve that, it’s true that when you need to retire it’s really tough.
These are not easy moments for an athlete, but there you are. Life goes on. The world isn’t going to stop. When I start training again, I will move forward and I will come back to the circuit for the rest of the season.
Q. You said that you were feeling less pain, you used anesthetics before?
RAFAEL NADAL: Only here. Not in Rome.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Today Toni Nadal told Sky Sports that “there is no set date for Rafa to return. He is in the rehabilitation stage and Rafa will return only when he is 100%. Rafa will return when the doctors are convinced that all is going well.”
Asked about Wimbledon Toni said, “He will not play at Wimbledon unless fit. We also don’t want to put in danger his participation in the Olympic Games.”
This means I may not see my champ in action until August. If he is 100% in August, I will be thrilled but I don’t want him back sooner than 100%. So take as long as needed.
RAFA ROCKS
uncle toni decides for RAFA.Rafa indeed is like a puppet.
Toni made that statement at some event he was attending and most likely Rafa was not present.
If you read Rafa’s autobiography you will find that Rafa is trying to be independent of his uncle. He probably has been with his uncle every day since childhood so it’s not easy. In his book he also criticizes his uncle but is emphatic about the love and respect he has for Toni. I do understand how you feel but I think Rafa will work it out on his own. Rafa is intelligent and a thinker.
RAFA ROCKS
I’ve read the book and found it quite disturbing the extent of uncle influence on Rafa’s life. I don’t think Toni will ever loosen up his grip on Rafa as long as he plays the game. Rafa’s parent failed him a big time.
It’s possible they didn’t realize the extent to which Toni was dominating him. In Rafa’s book he mentions an incident when his mother tried to question him what the matter was. Rafa said he held it inside and didn’t tell his mom. I am just paraphrasing but this reveals that Rafa probably kept a lot inside. He was taught to be tough and strong but maybe not in a healthy way.
Look how long it took him to sue Bachelot. Her accusations about Rafa doping have been going on for years.
His mom said he was a timid child.
RAFA ROCKS
agree. seems for the first time we’re on the same page. It just bothers me that we may never see Rafa plays competitive in GS. He could have benefited from hiring a coach few years ago and try to play more aggressive to cut on more injuries. I’m not sure if the time is on his side anymore.
I wonder what Rafa thinks of Sharapova’s two-year suspension. Not long enough?
SWEET RAFA ROCKS
In an interview with L’Equipe, Kafelnikov was asked who has been the strongest player he has ever seen on a tennis court. Kafelnikov said, “Probably Rafael Nadal for his determination. He plays from the first point to the last one at 100%. If he is up 6-0 5-0 40-0, for him it does not change anything. Mentally he is the strongest one. And yet I met strong players at mental level. Sampras, Courier, Chang and Becker, but Nadal is above everyone.”
I await your return Rafa.
Aye yai yai, Rafa, I’ve been on a wild goose chase.
According to The NY Times, Dr. Cotorro told the Spanish news website El Español that Rafa’s damaged tendon is the extensor carpi ulnaris tendon but Benito Perez Barbadillo, his spokesman,confirmed that the problem was an inflamed tendon sheath.
Whatever the injury is Rafa, do as you promised in your presser. Don’t return to the tour until your muñeca is 100%.
RAFA ROCKS
Please do not come back till it has healed properly I live to watch You play and tennis is not the same without you but we will all be waiting for your return and we love you and the way you play get well soon x
I hope Rafa does pull out of Wimbledon and even the Olympic’s, take the maximum time out to let the injury heal, coming back to soon could lead to more complications that their may be no coming back from 😥. Good to see Roger Federer back on the tennis courts at Stuttgart😂, Rafa take a leaf out of Rogers book who decided not to play at the FO because of his health and has decided to play at Wimbledon🍓, as that is his best surface.He has said now at his age he needs to pick wisely if he wants to prolong his career,the same applies to you because of the wear and tear on your body. Wimbledon has never been a kind surface to your style of play ,take time of and come out fighting at the US Open.🐂🇪🇸🎾
I agree, Rafa you should take a cue from Roger and rest up so your muñeca can heal completely. Completely means being able to play without mesotherapy or injecting anesthetics in order to play. This only exacerbates the problem.
I am in anguish that you don’t consult with the best doctors in the field. You have access but you need to avail yourself of the best doctors available. You were told nothing was wrong and now look what a bind you are in.
Rest so that you can heal.
RAFA ROCKS
Margo, how do you know Rafa doesn’t or hasn’t consulted the best doctors in the field? Has there been any communication to that effect? Thanks!
Sure, from Rafa himself. All he has ever talked about is “Angel”, i.e. Dr. Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, his personal physician. “Angel has always let me play to the limit.” Rafa was told he was okay. Then he was not okay. Obviously something is amiss.
RAFA ROCKS
Also, other athletes are not running to Spain when they have an injury. They are most likely to go to England or the U.S.
All the very best for a speedy recovery. What a dreadful birthday present. Don’t rush it, we want to watch you and your skill for many years yet!
i have a friend therapist who has a gift of healing. He has helped plenty athletes here in our country (Philippines). you might want to check him out. His name is Miguel del Prado and he does myotherapy. most of all actually it is his gift of healing that draws clients to him.
Myotherapy seems a lot safer than injecting stuff to keep him playing while he is injured or to hasten healing.
Massage is needed in that area to stimulate blood flow that helps with healing.
RAFA ROCKS
Pain in the body is a sign that something is wrong. Rafa did play even though he was injured. He said it himself, “Every day the image is a little bit worse.” “It is OBVIOUS that if it was not Roland Garros I would not have played the first two days.” He also used the word “risk” which indicates there was knowledge of possible injury. They made the decision to use an anesthetic to mask the pain of his injury.
I don’t think anyone here is claiming to be a diagnostician. It’s just something to help estimate how long he will be out because he is so missed.
RAFA ROCKS
100% sure he will not play and 80% sure he will also bail out of the Olympics. I know Rafa’s habits a bit after all these years.
Sorry but you often seem very confused about Rafa. It is not about “habits.” You understand nothing if you think there’s a 1% chance he will not play in the Olympics. That 1% is if the dr tells him he will do permanent damage and end his career. Do you not listen to him? The Olympics means everything to him. He can still barely speak about having to miss 2012.
I read Jaybeer’s “habits” comment to mean that Rafa will play even when he is injured or in pain. That is a “habit.” Even in an interview his buddy, Juan Martin DelPotro, stated that he knows Rafa wants to come back fast, etc., I posted earlier so all could read.
I would not insult Jaybeer by saying he seems confused or that he knows nothing. Not nice.
Maybe Jaybeer can explain what he meant.
Toni’s words were posted on the 9th.
As a fan and from what all I have read, it is unlikely that Rafa will play Wimbledon. I even think that the Olympics may be too soon but maybe, just maybe, he will heal in time for the Olympics. I hope he is 100% for the Olympics.
Who knows how much more damage he did at RG playing after an injection was administered (habit).
The bottom line is that no one knows when Rafa will be able to play at 100%. I bet at this point he doesn’t know either. By the paucity of information available from him we can only go by the little we know.
Everyone has his/her opinion but we need not insult each other or be snarky to get a point across. Let’s be as civilized toward each other as Rafa is to those who beat him in matches.
RAFA ROCKS
I expect that Rafael has access to the best medical treatment and find it interesting that people, who have no medical training or knowledge try and diagnose the problem. Even suggesting that he should refer to a website is ludicrous, a lot of information on such websites is not accurate. As for being secretive, why should his team tell us everything.
Rafael is very open and honest but do you really expect him to tell everything. Get real, Anyone who has played sport knows that injury is part of it. You can play through pain but not through injury. Injections are used to dull pain, not to heal.
Let us leave the injury issues to the experts. Let us hope that this great sportsman returns to the game he adorns so well. I think that the Olympics are his main focus.
Elizabeth Thank you for your sane and sensible posts on this site.
This is a fan site where fans talk about Rafa: give opinions, discuss what Rafa is doing, and maybe even suggest a website that a fan thinks Rafa may be interested in. To call any of this “ludicrous” is both disrespectful and insulting to the fan. This is a great Rafa site but I don’t want it spoiled by unkind words, condescending or insulting remarks to other fans, directly or indirectly.
RAFA ROCKS
Rafa will probably withdraw from Wimbledon. I hope that doesn’t happen because I need my Rafa fix! Competition wise, as least the FedEx is back to throw up some challenge to the Djoker.
Get well soon Rafa, and come back strong!
I watched Rafa play against Federer in India (IPTL) last night. It was the only time in 2015 I have seen him genuinely happy and relaxed. He is like a child out there – bouncing around with excitement. It cheered me up no end!
Cannot and will not watch tennis until Rafa returns !!! I wish him the best and please keep us informed..😞
I, too, Marisol, will not watch tennis until Rafa returns. Not the same without him.
i am sure Rafa is in good hands medically he has access to the best teams to help him.
They won’t let him play before his wrist is ready and healed and strong.
praying for you Rafa for complete healing and strength,
Love and Prayers,
AlaineXXAustraliaXX
I hope you are right about his doctor(s) but mesotherapy is used mainly for cosmetic reasons (weight loss, etc.).
It has been studied for pain relief for ailments such as tendinitis, tendon calcification, etc. I just hope he is not in some clinical trial.
@donspeigel
Without a diagnosis from Rafa or his team I searched for a best explanation of his injury. The only diagnosis that includes “sheath inflammation” is tenosynovitis.
Tenosynovitis shares some of the dynamics of tendinitis, but with tenosynovitis, the pain causing dynamic that is happening in the entire area also has a laser-like focus on the sheath that the tendon slides through.
Tendinitis occurs where there is no sheath. Rafa specifically said that “there is inflammation of the sheath” so I ruled out tendinitis.
RAFA GIVE US YOUR DIAGNOSIS
You made a home run. What stood out most tellingly for me was that Rafa said, “Angel always helped me to play to the limit.” That statement upset me to no end. I too was worried about the injections, etc. Unhealthy indeed, instead of letting things heal they push to the limit. I honestly believe if the doctor had told him he could keep playing the FO, I’ll just give you a shot, Rafa would have continued if he didn’t have such severe pain. Rafa wants to play no matter what.
And yes, they are all adults. Sadly we don’t really know what the dynamics are among them all, so like you said, we may never know the whole story.
MISS MY CHAMPION
Yes, exactly this sentence also made me prick up my ears, even if I assumed already that it might always have always been this way. I’m quite sure it is like you say, if Angel had told him to play all the matches with injections, he had played on. :(. I’m glad the Doctor stopped this, but it was already very late. Like you, I would like to know more about this dynamics inside his team. I guess it is some kind of dependence between all of them with positive and negative aspects, but don’t want to go down too deep into psychology too much as I do not know them. But I’m thinking a lot about all of this by this time. Hope to see him play again soon in Wimbledon, but on the other hand, the longer he does not play, the better for him. It’s so difficult!
LOL re the “psychology” part. Neither can I nor do I want to. They are a secretive lot.
Yes, suspecting the “limits” angle is one thing but actually having him say it is a shocker. I was hoping it was not true.
Yes, I too would love to see him play Wimbledon but I think it would be too soon. Torture yes! I will just wait for his next announcement to hear what he has to say.
RAFA ROCKS
Indeed! to finally hear him saying this was shocking.
Have a good night / evening, Margo. It was very nice sharing thoughts with you.
Let’s keep waiting and hoping. Patience, urgently needed :).
Rafa, check on this website about wrist tendonitis:
https://www.verywell.com/wrist-tendonitis-2548611
You could be right but Rafa, as far as I can ascertain, never gave a diagnosis other than “the sheath of the tendon is very inflamed.” I was thinking more on terms of Tenosynovitis, which is inflammation of the tendon sheath, the protective covering of the tendon.
He also said it’s not broken. Does he mean if he continued playing his wrist would break, or the tendon would break (rip), or the sheath would rip/tear/break? All I do know is that he needs expert advice to guide him in making good decisions for his long term well being. It would break my heart to see him incapable of doing the things he loves because of incorrect choices based on incomplete medical advice.
Why does he think knees last forever. They can become so damaged as to need replacement, a common and uncomplicated procedure.
RAFA ROCKS
Margo, you’re absolutely right about the experts that he shoud call in in this case. Maybe they do this already, but I have no idea…
As far as I understood, he wanted to say that the tendon is going to tear, which means for me, that there must be already huge “wear marks” and this comes together with the inflammation.
I only know that tendon sheat inflammations can (but must not!) take very long time to heal, as I had one by myself in for over one year. Some weeks ago it suddendly healed out from one week to the other and did not came back. Until now I do not know what really helped as I tried many different things. I thinks all is speculation, and everybody reacts different in the healing process.
I’m wondering if Juan Martin Del Potro also had an inflammation in his wrist or something else that keept him away from the tour for so long… could not figure out what problem he exactly has with his wrist. Hope Rafas problem is not the same level.
Fedallica: On DelPotro all I could find was that he had ligament problems and three surgeries so this is different from our champs problem.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Rafa and his team. I just wish he would let us know how he is doing because I am like a mother hen (LOL) here hoping for a progress report.
Ah ok, so it was a ligament problem with Del Potro… thanks!
LOL, yeah, me too :). Progressive report would be great…
See you around!
It sounds as if he (or his doctor) is denying the seriousness of this medical problem. I understand immobilizing the wrist, but mesotherapy??? What is his doctor planning to inject in his wrist. RAFA PLEASE LOOK FOR ANOTHER SPECIALIST.GET A SECOND OPINION, PLEASE.
He was in such pain he couldn’t move his wrist. For him, being used to pain, that is HUGE! My fear is that the pain will disappear and he will think he is “cured” only to have it reappear.
YOU CANNOT RUSH YOUR BODY TO HEAL, Rafa. Rest the wrist, consult other hand injury experts, and stop trying to rush things. Do not punish your body any more than you have.
Had exactly the same thoughts when I watched the full press conference. Why is he doing this and so on… It’s very hard to understand sometimes, but we do all know that Rafa and his team do always push it to the limits. Is nothing new :(. Somehow I do not really expect that they will immediately change this behaviour by that time of his career… If they all cared more about his future health, they would have done much earlier. And with “they” I mean all of them. Rafa, Toni, Doctor, and so on.
Rafa’s career and pushing to the limits is something so intimately connected that I can’t believe they might completely change that attitude. And sports at this level never is healthy. Nevertheless, I would not condemn him or anybody in his team because of that, because it is their decision, they are all adults, time is running, and we never know the exact truth. But I also think that many of those things like playing with anesthetic injections is too much. It shudders me even to think about.
It appears he has severe wrist tendonitis. If that is the case, there are treatments for that which take time. A good physician should be able to help him without surgery. Whether he will be ready in time for Wimbledon is an open question. He pushed his luck in Paris, but was wise to pull out before he incurred irreparable harm to his wrist.
I looked all over for his diagnosis. Where did you find it? Thanks
Get well soon Rafa. Tennis is nothing without you 🙁