Rafael Nadal’s uncle believes the Spanish superstar will keep playing tennis “because fighting until the end is in his DNA”. And Toni Nadal revealed the new French Open champion nearly skipped the event in 2020 because the pain in his foot was so severe.
The Spanish superstar posed with the Coupe de Mousquetaires for the 14th time in central Paris on Monday. But his next stop will be Barcelona for nerve treatment on his chronic foot injury which will decide whether he will travel to Wimbledon and beyond.
The new world No 4 revealed he won his 22nd Grand Slam with the help of painkilling injections but insisted he could not “continue like this” and he would seek a longer-term solution. If the radio frequency ablation treatment fails, he could be faced with career-threatening surgery.
Australian Open winner Nadal sounded like Andy Murray in 2019 before his second hip surgery. And his former coach Toni told Cadena SER: “I think that fighting until the end is in his DNA, especially when you see that he is winning two Grand Slams this year. You know you’re at a great level and you want to keep fighting.
Like a fine Rioja, 36-year-old Nadal is getting better with age. Since the start of 2017, he has won eight Slams while Novak Djokovic has claimed seven and Roger Federer three to lead the GOAT race by two.
And Mats Wilander claimed: “I find his tennis now more fun to watch than Roger or Novak. It is like watching Federer when he was at the top of his game.”
Toni Nadal added: “What is incredible is that my nephew, with a car which is not working properly, is still winning. It shows that he is the best driver there is.”