In an interview with El Pais, Rafael Nadal’s long-time doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro said that they are adopting a very cautious approach to the latest setback in the hopes of being fit and ready for the clay-court season.
When you are about to compete and in your first training session (and) this happens, obviously it influences you and it’s hard. It’s in a muscle and not in a tendon, which would have been much worse.
The negative thing is that pain is back in an already affected zone and this is not something unusual. Rafa was practicing in a normal way and everything was going well. We need to be optimistic, because we have always been so, but also realistic and now, seeing what happened, we have to be as cautious as possible.
Rafa will be back when he will be doing well.
Cotorro said everyone was hopeful that Rafa would be back in time to compete on his favourite surface.
We hope that he will be recovered for the clay-court season, that’s the goal.
Rafa should rest for two or three weeks, then have a progressive recovery, but it always depends on how everything works. You have to monitor this injury closely, so we will go week-by-week, without rushing.
Source: sport24
I will be so happy when Rafael can return playing in top form, and defend his titles on clay. Hopefully he will win French Open for the 12 time. He needs to show that he is indeed King of Clay.The warrior needs to be able to come back and play his best tennis with no injuries
dtmna
Dont hold your breath nadal will play madrid because the tournament is in spain and you know that he is a pleaser who want to make spanish people happy at the benefith of his health.
Since nadal hasnt played for two months i dont think he is going to slow down because its clay season. So he is going to play all clay tournaments in order to protect the nr 1 ranking.
And look we all know nadal needs match practice and confidence he wants to be the best clay court player (he already is the biggest one) Clay is always important for him.
If i were the one advising him (offcourse he is not going to listen to me i know that) i would say skip monte carlo and barcelona play madrid and rome and the french open
So King Rafa has come back to world number 1.
I am very happy!
Despite the fact that Rafa is very unlikely to hold the no.1 spot throughout the clay season as he has too many points to defend (like 4600?) but still this is something to celebrate.
Federer again shows how he truly is. Trying to tease Rafa about playing best of five matches on clay but again, he skipped the whole clay season.
He knows Rafa has to defend many points. I am curious whether Rafa could fall into that trap AGAIN? His health must come first. I say this year, Rafa should consider playing Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome before RG. Madrid’s court is too agressive for his knees.
Fed has confirmed that he won’t play on the clay.
Fed after his loss:
“You take a break, get away from it all, and get back to practice court and work.”
Kokkinakis has made statements indicating he has studied Fed very thoroughly. I wonder if that helped his win and his confidence.
The NextGen is coming.
RAFA ROCKS THEM ALL
federer has drop in form compare to last year and this year australian open. Its painful for me to ask but what if rafa had played indian wells and miami and had faced federer in this year melbourne and indian wells and miami would he had won. federer looks vulnerable
nadal is nr 1 again. Federer will be force to play on clay and the french open. if federer continues this kind of form and vulnerability i predict nadal could have a chance this year at wimbeldon to pull out an upset
‘Kokkinakis banged ol’ Roger, sorry to tell ya that mate!”
😂😂😂
Haha…funny, funny, funny. At first I thought it was a double entendre but realized it’s an altered version of Kyrgios’s word. You got me laughing.
Wow! Fed out! Rafa is no.1 again! More pressure on Fed to play on clay?
No roof and in bright sunshine during the hottest time of day. I think he ran out of steam. He just lost to a 21-year-old so I don’t think he wants to chance another early loss on clay instead of preparing for Wimby. But who knows…..
He is probably very upset at the moment.
When he lost IW to JMDP he said he didn’t know what the hell happened. I wonder if he knows what just happened now in Miami. I thought he would go deeper.
Now it’s JMDP’s turn to do a Sunshine Double.
RAFA ROCKS
LOL The seesaw is still going.
RAFA ROCKS
Fed said he will not play on clay. Wimbledon is his priorities
Congrats to Kokkinakis who has just beaten Roger at the Miami Open, great to see him back on tour😀
Here, here Maria!
Kokkinakis just won his match vs Fed.
RAFA ROCKS
Wow. Where did that come from? Wonderful! So some guys are proving that the great Federer can be beaten. This should sow some seeds of doubt in Roger’s mind…
Congratulations to Kokkinakis though. What a great win for him. Truly deserved; he brought the intensity, much like his countryman Kyrgios does on a good day. Speaking of, where is Kyrgios anyway?
What a nice win for Kokkinakis! He was almost down and out in the decider. So glad he pulled himself out of the hole to win in the tiebreak. Does Fed have a bad record in tiebreaks? Or do his matches not get that far because he wins straight out? I have no idea.
Kyrgios is playing tonight.
I am reading all these concerns about nadal being back soon. At some point he needs to return he can not wait too long. He has no match practice. and he needs rythm and match practice for the french open. He only played a couple matches this year. A good clay season will give nadal the confidence for the rest of the year
with regard to nole he is now feeling what nadal was feeling in 2015 and 2016 losing against low players. Think is going to take two years for nole to be back on level
Hi mjus,
If I recall correctly, Rafa had no problem coming back to win Brisbane 2017, reaching the AO 2017 final, and having a fantastic clay season all after a 2.5-months’ rest after cutting short his 2016 season. Furthermore, it was a wrist injury and not a mobility problem as it is now in 2018.
Rafa did not rest after his 2018 AO retirement but then decided to play Mexico where he suffered another injury in the same area. Barely three weeks after this second injury he is now back on court. Waiting for the Madrid Open would give him more time to heal and give him time to start practice slowly, graduating to full practice mode.
For all I know, he could be already completely healed but from past experience waiting longer may give him a better fighting chance, better results.
We can all agree that a healthy Rafa is a winning Rafa.
RAFA ROCKS
DelPotro wins his first match. He got a really rotten draw BTW.
He hopes to play clay but I don’t know which tournaments.
RAFA ROCKS
PLEASE DON’T FORGET EARTH HOUR
Saturday, April 24, @8:30pm-9:30 or 20:30-21:30 YOUR time wherever you are located . By turning your lights out for one hour you will help this remarkable planet.
Like him or not, it was a shame to see Djokovic, who once dominated the sport, lose so powerlessly against Paire. In his post match press conference he said he was just physically tired after the opening few games. He certainly did look out of breath and fatigued – understandable after so long without many competitive matches under his belt. The commentators did question his appetite for the fight and said that he would have to dig deep. These next few months will test how much he’s willing to commit to finding his form again.
It can’t have been easy for Djokovic to play with pain for two years and Rafa knows only too well what it’s like, having played with the aid of painkillers for the past ten years or so. One thing for sure is that, having come back from injury time after time, Rafa’s motivation and passion isn’t in doubt, even though he’s won so much and long may it last. During this period of rehabilitation, i’m praying that he’s looking after his body so that he’s healthy for the clay season and beyond.
Mac, of course you can.
Djokovic just got beat by Paire. Is it okay to feel bad for him?
Rafa called it ages ago though, that eventually Djoker (or his body rather) would not be able to sustain that superhuman level that he had attained.
Take care of your body Rafa. We patiently await your return.
Hi Mac, I feel bad for any athelete who can’t compete due to injury because I know they all suffer. Anyway, I think he has mellowed since his silly on-court behavior….maybe.
I didn’t expect him to win. Nole said he is looking to feel comfortable on court and to get back to playing competitively…his priorities.
He divulged that he had been playing with elbow pain for two years and only recently is not having pain. He could be worried about the pain coming back so is not playing as good as he could. Only time will tell.
He did slightly better [3-6, 4-6] than Serena [3-6, 2-6] in her R1 match [by 20-year-old Osaka]. Both of these champions have a mountain to climb.
I’m waiting for my champion, Rafa. I hope he is fit when he returns. Already he is on court practicing but I hope he takes it slow. I was hoping for him to rest longer even though the wait is tortuous.
RAFA ROCKS
Margo, I too have concerns that Rafa is returning to practice too soon. It just seems to be a repeat of his expected return from Acapulco.
As for taking it slow, that does not seem to be in Rafa’s nature.
I hope I am wrong.
I have always said Rafa is the best thing that has ever happened to tennis.
But , oh dear, he expects too much of his body at the age of almost 32 years of age, I feel.
Fingers crossed for the clay season. I hope he can have another great season as he did in 2017.
He has so many points to protect. But more than protecting points he needs to make protecting his body his main concern.
Beverley, either Rafa and/or his team feel he is ready to practice. What can I say. I agree with you but it’s not my call. If that’s what he wants to do I am going to do what I usually do when he comes back from injury; [try to] put it out of my mind that he has returned too soon. My way of staying sane.😂😁😤
Otherwise I would be a nervous wreck.
Lately, Toni has been speaking to the press saying Rafa wants to play Davis Cup; Barcelona, and Madrid before the FO. He may have included Rome but I can’t find the article. I find it peculiar that Carlos is not saying anything. And as I know, Rafa keeps the press at arm’s length unless he is in competition. So I don’t know what to believe but it’s common knowledge that Rafa won’t pass up any clay tournament if he can help it.
Rafa has lived his life on a tennis court as he started earlier than most players. It must be difficult for him when he is neither practicing nor playing.
My fingers are crossed also.
RAFA ROCKS
It seems that Rafa is on his way to clay season, if you watch his new instagram video practicing in his academy !
And it is only a day after meeting with his doctor to assess his healing progress.
What can I say ?
Hopefully they are doing it right this time ….
Looking forward to having Nadal back soon. Hope he will be in good shape to defend French Open. This is what is most important.
Wishing for a speedy recovery and healthy and fit Nadal competing in slams.
Well done Delpo! 😃🎾👏🏻 Great match. – Congratulations 🤗🇦🇷
Rafa, can’t wait to see you back. – Miss watching you play champ 😍😘🍀