Rafael Nadal has been a player to beat in major tournaments this year. The Spaniard won two titles at the Australian Open and Roland Garros to total 22 major crowns and overtake Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Rafa played just two games after last year’s Roland Garros, ending the season with little confidence and hoping for a better run in 2022. Nadal started the new season perfectly, lifting his first Open crown from Australia in 13 years, after an incredible comeback against Daniil Medvedev in the title clash.
Rafa lost his first game of the season at Indian Wells with a broken rib, and had to skip Monte Carlo and Barcelona. Formless, the Spaniard suffered early losses in Madrid and Rome and needed injections to support the efforts at Roland Garros.
Rafa passed the test and won the 14th Parisian trophy to further improve his season.
Rafael Nadal injured his abdomen at Wimbledon.
Nadal has set his sights on the first Wimbledon crown in 12 years, hoping for a good run in his first campaign at the All England Club in three years.
The Spaniard reached the semi-final after an epic win over Taylor Fritz in five sets. Still, it marked the end of his campaign, due to an abdominal injury that revealed a seven millimeter tear.
Rafa couldn’t serve at his best throughout the tournament and skipped Montreal to rest his body. Nadal took the exit door in Cincinnati in the second round and didn’t look good heading into the US Open.
The four-time champion reached the fourth round before losing in four sets to Frances Tiafoe and ending his major tournament season with two trophies. “I have no intention of retiring, but I have to admit that I almost made that decision in Paris this year.
I thought Roland Garros might be my last tournament. I have endured these ordeals, and everything has turned to disaster for me physically for the past three months. My foot is not well, and I hurt my abdomen at Wimbledon and again in New York.
Alongside these Major setbacks, there were personal things and issues. Still, I don’t feel like thinking about retirement because things aren’t entirely lost.
I would like to recover physically in the weeks to come and see everything going well in my personal life, that’s the priority. I want to organize my life in the right way and have peace of mind in every sense of the word, professional, personal and physical. I can start again after that” said Rafael Nadal.
