The king of tennis, in Buenos Aires. Rafael Nadal, very close to playing an exhibition in Argentina before the end of the year and against Del Potro

The visit will shake the spirit of tennis lovers (and sports in general) in the Argentina. The Spanish Rafael Nadalracket sport legend who has just conquered Roland Garros for the 14th time (success with which he extended his record and reached 22 Grand Slam singles trophies, two more than Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic), I would return to our country in November to dispute an exhibition that will be part of an exclusive american tour.

At the moment there is no official announcement, since some contractual details must be closed, but, according to what he had access to THE NATION, everything is very advanced and the announcement is imminent. When would the game be? On Wednesday November 23. Where? In the Rock Park of the City of Buenos Aires, the scene where numerous Davis Cup series were played and in which Federer and Alexander Zverev played an exhibition at the end of 2019. Against which rival would Nadal be measured? Before Juan Martin del Potro: The presence of the man from Tandil is not confirmed and, although it is the priority, the organizers are also evaluating other local and international options.

It will not be Nadal’s first visit to Argentina, of course. But this time probably the impact may be even greaterbecause it would come at the end of a remarkable season that is already historic, in which he won two titles majors (in addition to the French Open, the Australian Open; he also won the Melbourne and Acapulco ATP), breaking all forecasts if one takes into account that last year he had to stop playing in August due to the worsening of the congenital disease that suffers in the left foot, called Müller-Weiss.

The former number 1 in the world and current 4th, has already performed at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires three times. The first, in 2005, before achieving his first French Open. At 18 years old and 48th in the ranking, he lost in the quarterfinals to Gastón Gaudio. He returned to the Buenos Aires tournament in 2015, ranking 4th in the world and winning the title (beating Juan Mónaco in the final). While in 2016, being the 5th in the ranking, he said goodbye in the semifinals, against the Austrian Dominic Thiem (he would finally win the trophy).

Nadal also visited Argentina in November 2013 to fulfill various sporting and commercial commitments. He participated in a double farewell to David Nalbandian, in the Rural (Djokovic was also there) and in the Orfeo de Córdoba stadium. In addition, Rafa and Nole, who at that time were 1 and 2 in the ranking, respectively, were the protagonists of a promotion of the Perito Moreno glacier, rallying on top of a boat.

On this occasion, the person in charge of Rafa Nadal’s arrival in Argentina at the end of the year is Lisandro Borges, CEO of the company Visión Deportiva and responsible for the Buenos Aires date on the World Padel Tour calendar. Buenos Aires would be the first station of a tour that Nadal and his team have evaluated to carry out through different cities of the American continent.

In addition to the game at Parque Roca, Matador’s presence would include other activities during his brief stay in Buenos Aires, such as a clinic and a dinner for guests.

Foot treatment and Wimbledon

After winning the Musketeers Cup in the Bois de Boulogne, Nadal expressed his desire to perform at Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the season, which runs from June 27 to July 10 this year. It is clear that he will travel to London as long as he recovers from the wear and tear of these days on his left foot and if the treatment that he will carry out soon gives him good results.

“In Paris I was able to play in extreme conditions, with nerve injections to put my foot to sleep. my doctor [Ángel Ruiz-Cotorro] He has put anesthesia on my nerves and that takes away that bad feeling in my foot, but it also carries a risk and can cause other things out there”, Nadal said after the new conquest on the brick dust of Paris.

And he continued detailing: “A remote blockade has been done, with injections that affect the nerves. I am playing without pain, but with zero sensation. It’s like when they put you to sleep at the dentist. Now we are going to go home and perform an intervention on both nerves. They are injections with pulsatile radiofrequency, which could take away the (negative) sensation in my foot; it is about inhibiting the nerve, removing that sensation of permanent pain. Let’s see if the nerve can be left half asleep and have that other sensation: even if it leaves it with little sensitivity, the objective is to leave it with little pain”.

In medical parlance, treatment consists of “inserting a special needle under X-ray or ultrasound guidance until it sits next to the nerve to be treated. Once in position, the tip of the needle is energized using radiofrequency pulses to readjust the function of the damaged nerve.” At 36 years old, Nadal continues to amaze on and off the court, looking for solutions to try to continue competing at a high level and not have consequences tomorrow.