Rafael Nadal was one of the big protagonists in the first part of the season. The former world number 1, who was coming back from a difficult 2021 due to injuries, won the Australian Open and Roland Garros, dispelling all doubts about his competitiveness.
In addition to having warded off the specter of retirement, the Spanish phenomenon guarantees himself an excellent chance of finishing the year at the top of the ATP rankings. Daniil Medvedev will have to defend many points by the end of the season, while Novak Djokovic may not be able to fly to the United States because he has not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
After undergoing foot treatment with Dr Cotorro, the 36-year-old from Manacor is on the hunt for his third seal at Wimbledon. Rafa made it all the way to the semi-finals but had to forfeit facing Nick Kyrgios due to a tear in his abdomen.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has already resumed training and will return to the field in Montreal next week. In a recent interview with ‘La Nacion’, Francisco Cerundolo spoke about his match against Nadal in the first round of Wimbledon 2022.
Despite the loss, the Argentine showed great performance and took risks to take the match to the fifth set.
Cerundolo opens up on Nadal
“Half an hour before the game, I started to feel nervous.
And since I went from the locker room to the court, passing through the internal corridors, I felt that Rafael Nadal was walking [derrière moi], he whispered in my ear. I felt a lion was coming,” Cerundolo said.
Had he not done that and allowed himself to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation, the 23-year-old is certain he would have been decimated in straight sets.
We were a few meters from the entrance, I got ready and I said: “I’m going to kill or I’m going to have a very bad time” As soon as I set foot on the grass, I said to myself: ‘Look where I am,'” Cerundolo said.
“I went into party mode and my nerves flew. If I hadn’t done that, I would have lost 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. It was a great tournament, there had no points, what better than that.
We started warming up and at some point I grabbed my cell phone, took to Twitter and boom! I see Cerúndolo-Nadal. I said, “Well, it’s Rafa touching me.
At that time, from Friday’s draw to Tuesday’s game, I was eager to get on the pitch and play. ”
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