Rafael Nadal is on top of the world at the moment. By winning the French Open 2022, he has recoed 22 Grand Slam Titles, widening the gap between him and other two living legends Roger Federer (20) and Novak Djokovic (20).
Nadal, however, was very close to retirement just before the Rolan Garros as he was battling a fragile body.
Just before the second Grand Slam of the year, Nadal was questioning his next move. He was not sure he could carry on anymore on a tennis court. He was frustrated by a chronic foot pain caused by the Muelller-Weiss syndrome and was considering retiring from the sport. However, the title win has changed everything and Nadal now no more thinks about it calling it quits.
"A couple of weeks ago I was close to it [retirement]. Now I don't feel that way. I don't fear that day. I have a very happy life outside of tennis, even if tennis is a very big part of my life," Nadal said, as per a tennis writer James Gray.
In order to play French Open, Nadal took anaesthetic injections and anti-inflammatories. This was done to completely numb his foot pain. Thanks to this, he went on to win the title and afterwards went for a foot operation in Spain which was successful.
"Every day is a challenge, that's the truth. All the opponents are difficult. We are playing against the best players of the world and especially even in these conditions, it will be more [difficult]. I didn't play much on grass for the past three years," Nadal said. "Every day is an opportunity to improve and today I'm through, so that gives me the chance to keep going. [I am] very happy for that."
Nadal has not been in good form at the Wimbledon. In two matches, he has struggled hard. He has returned to Wimbledon after a gap of three years. And the comeback is not looking too good at the moment.
Nadal went past both Francisco Cerundolo (first round) and Ricardas Berankis (second round) in four sets and never looked comfortable. He next faces Lorenzo Sonego in the third round on July 2 at the Cente Court.
