When it comes to disclosing injuries to the public Rafael Nadal says he would rather be upfront about his physical problems than hide them.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion made the comments following his win over Fabio Fognini in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Monday. Nadal had been troubled by a back issue in the lead-up to the tournament and admits that it is still a problem for him but it is getting better. The issue forced him to withdraw from the ATP Cup last month.
“It’s difficult to hide things. I think it’s not healthy to hide a lot of things because it’s difficult,” Nadal told reporters in Melbourne.
“I have been more public because we had the ATP Cup just before. Maybe if we didn’t have the ATP Cup before, people will know less, but at some point there’s people here (at the Australian Open) that knows when you are practicing, when you are not practicing.”
“Even if you want to hide, at some point you’re going to have questions to answer. I don’t want to play that game, honestly.”
Nadal’s comment comes amid a debate over a players right to their privacy regarding their physical problems. Victoria Azarenka has said that she doesn’t think players shouldn’t have to disclose their problem to the public if they are asked to. Meanwhile, there is mystery surrounding Novak Djokovic’s current issue. The former world No.1 initially feared that he had torn a muscle but is still playing in the tournament. Following his match against Milos Raonic on Sunday, Djokovic didn’t address his previous reference to a muscle tear and said he doesn’t want to speak publicly about the results of his MRI scan.
In Djokovic’s case he has admitted that he wouldn’t have continued playing in the tournament if it wasn’t a Grand Slam and it is possible that his determination could worsen his injury. Something Nadal admits he had previously done and later regretted doing.
“I remember at the US Open 2009 that I started with a strain in the abdominal. I started with six millimetres or so with the strain and I finished the tournament, I lost in that semifinals against Del Potro, with 26 millimetres. Of course it wasn’t a smart decision,” he reflected.
“You need to find a balance. At this point of my career, if there is a big chance to increase (injure) something very important, probably I will not play because for me happiness is much more important than giving me a chance to win, and at the same time, if you are bad, you will not win.”
Nadal will play Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals on Wednesday if what will be a repeat of their meeting at the same tournament back in 2019. Overall, he leads their head-to-head 6-1 and has the edge on paper. Although whatever happens for the remainder of the tournament, the Spaniard is just grateful he is able to be playing at all during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are lucky to be able to keep doing our job without a doubt. We can’t complain at all,” he said.
“It’s important to have the tour keep going, but at the same time it’s important to find solutions to protect the players that are in such a very difficult situation to play most of the weeks. So we need to protect them.”
Nadal has now reached 43 Grand Slam quarter-finals in what is the third highest tally in ATP history after Roger Federer and Djokovic.
