Rafa Nadal shrugs off injury problems ahead of French Open
World No 5 aims to launch another bid for a Grand Slam title in Paris
Rafa Nadal has moved to ease concerns about his injury problems ahead of the French Open, posting a picture of himself training in full flow at his academy in Mallorca with the caption: “See you on Wednesday, Paris.”
The 13-time Roland Garros champion said last week that daily training was a challenge and he would take a doctor with him to Paris after a chronic foot injury flared up during his defeat by Denis Shapovalov at the Italian Open.
Nadal, who only recently returned from a stress fracture in the ribs, struggled towards the end of his match against the Canadian as he went down 1-6 7-5 6-2 in the last-16.
But the world No 5 looks poised to launch another bid for a Grand Slam title at his favourite hunting ground, having won his 21st Major at the Australian Open earlier in 2022. That victory followed a difficult 2021 during which he missed Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open.
Nadal will be trying to reclaim the title in Paris after he suffered a semifinal defeat last year against Novak Djokovic, only his third career loss at Roland Garros.
Reuters