Rafael Nadal suffers at Wimbledon, for the fourth time in his career, at least as far as is known, an abdominal injury. The first time he felt that discomfort was at the 2009 US Open. He said it after losing in three sets (triple 6-2) in the semifinals against the Argentine Juan Martín del Potro: “The abdominal has been killing me since the first week”, published daily ACE from Spain.
In 2018, the problems in that area reappeared. It was just before the Masters 1,000 in Paris, during training. The player, who had retired in New York, in the middle of the penultimate round match, precisely against Del Potro, did not attend that appointment and did not play the rest of the season either.
For this injury, the Spaniard decided to withdraw from the English tournament, that this Friday he was going to measure the Australian Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals.
And in 2019, again with the French capital as the involuntary protagonist, Nadal gave up fighting for the final against Denis Shapovalov due to a torn abdomen. Miraculously, he recovered, and played in the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup Finals, with a decisive intervention in the title conquered by Spain.
The question that many fans will ask is how an ailment of this type affects the game of a professional tennis player. Mainly, it makes the serve difficult, not so much the rest of the movements and hits. Nadal himself explains it. “If I play low down, I don’t have any pain. Perfect rally, without even discomfort”, he argues.
“What is true is that (against Fritz) I spent two very bad hours on the court, from when I hurt myself at 3-1 in the first set, until I found a way to serve so that the abdominal would intervene less” , keep going. “Because even if I served weakly, I was left sore for the next shot.”
“I was whipped down there, to be clear. It’s not something that bothers me to play in the background after a while, but when I finish serving, that lash doesn’t go away instantly, it stays and I hit the next two shots because of problems”, affirms the Manacorí.
“Then, it is true, that at the end of the match, and for a good part of the fourth set, serving weakly, I did not feel so much pain and that, although I did not get any advantage with the service, very little, it did not harm me for the next shot” , contributes
“In almost the entire first set, the entire second and a good part of the third, the problem is not that I did not win points with the serve, it is that I was in pain every time, I could not follow the point normally. Then I found a solution, and serving as I served, from the baseline I could play well and I did”, he concluded.
Possible solutions
Depending on the severity of the injury, whether it is a tear, a microtear or a break, the solutions are different, although always palliative, because it is an ailment that requires rest. In the best of cases, you could relax the area with anti-inflammatories and support it with a bandage, executing the serves without pulling much on the abdomen.
At worst, it would be very difficult, almost impossible to play. Nadal confessed that he had not served in training for a few days.
“I have been dragging this discomfort for a week. If you have noticed, I have not made almost serves in training to preserve. I need information and to listen to people who know. At least my foot doesn’t hurt, or it hurts less, it doesn’t limit me. I have no reason to complain, I am lucky, although at the body level, I have little rest between one thing and another, although it heals with time. At bad times, good face”. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
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