With the French Open qualifiers starting today, there is a big question mark over the fitness of the King of Clay, Rafa Nadal.
A foot injury threatens to derail his path to a 14th French Open title.
Nadal, who only recently returned from a stress fracture in the ribs, struggled badly at the back end of his match against Denis Shapovalov at the Italian Open last week, as he went down 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the last-16.
🏆 In a remake of Roland-Garros 2021 final, @djokernole wins his
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 15, 2022
-6️⃣th title in Rome
-8️⃣7️⃣th career titles
-3️⃣8️⃣th Masters 1000
🤩
🔜 #RolandGarros
📸 Ray Giubilo pic.twitter.com/vmuu4C9LlS
And he says: “I had my foot again with a lot of pain. I am a player living with an injury - it is nothing new. It’s something that is there.
“Unfortunately, my day-by-day is difficult, honestly. Even like this, I am trying hard... it can be frustrating that a lot of days I can’t practice the proper way.”
The 35-year-old missed the bulk of last season due to the foot problem before mounting a remarkable comeback to win the Australian Open in January.