Opinion – James Spencer (Twitter: @jspencer28)
The hottest man in tennis this year in 2022 has no doubt been no other than Rafa Nadal.
Having won four titles in the first two months of the year, the Spaniard has been on a roll.
Wins at the Melbourne Summer Set Cup, a record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, from two sets to love down against Daniil Medvedev, and at the Acapulco Open in Mexico have shot Nadal to top of the year end race for Turin.
A venue the 35-year-old is yet to place at for the ATP Tour Finals.
However, after six-months on the injury sidelines with a toe-injury and a bout of Coronavirus, Rafa fans would be forgiven for being worried about the Spaniard overdoing it.
And this was exactly my concern, when I concluded the Acapulco Open and forecasted that Nadal would do the wise thing and skip Indian Wells to further rest his body.
Perhaps, he seemed a little too eager and a little too greedy to win a fourth title of the year, and prolong his record unbeaten start to the year.
This decision has evidently backfired, after a rib injury in the final against home hope Taylor Fritz, has put the Mallorca native out of action for six weeks.
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Of course, a 20-match streak is worthy of applause, but that has now been broken.
And yes, the gamble nearly paid off as one more victory would have seen the Spaniard tie Novak Djokovic with a record 37 Masters 1000 titles.
But the point of the matter is that this rib injury is no real surprise.
Nadal pushed his body to the limit. And it looked as though he was cracking (pun not intended) when Sebastian Korda nearly beat him in the opening round.
He then exerted every ounce of energy in the semi-finals just to beat the mirror image of himself, in 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz.
It almost looked as if Nadal had a point to prove and was desperate to win just to exert his influence that he is still present and the number one Spaniard, and that his legacy will be unrivalled, regardless of Alcaraz’ talent.
Pushing it to the limit against the youngster is likely to be what caused this injury, as well as the unnecessary participation in the Californian desert, when prior to this, his body was holding up fine.
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Of course, on his day, Nadal beats Fritz hands down, purely with his immense confidence, fitness, decision and shot-making skills.
However, we can’t run from the reality that the eventual outcome was bound to happen.
And now Nadal has potentially jeopardised his chances of winning the French Open with this injury.
It has majorly hampered his clay-court preparation.
He will now miss some of his favourite tournaments in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
And now faces a race against time to be fit for the Madrid Masters, another one of his favourites.
Had he skipped Indian Wells, this eventuality could have been avoided.
Some could argue that had Nadal won the final of Indian Wells, survived one more match and not been injured, he should then be playing in Miami to win the Sunshine Double.
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It’s obvious that any tournament the Spaniard competes in, he is always amongst the favourites. But protecting his body and prioritising his schedule is more important.
It is sad not to see the record Grand Slam holder not competing on the East Coast, but he should have been mindful that something like this was bound to happen.
Tennis fans all over the world will be hoping that this is not a serious injury and that Nadal’s rapid and successful start to the season is still in full flow, regardless of this interruption.
Madrid in May is when we next expect to see the El Matador. Will he be the bull in the ring of La Caja Mágica or will he be susceptible to injury?
The world will watch on in anticipation.