Rafael Nadal is currently on the tennis court, but he is not playing with his usual fearless demeanor that we have come to expect from him over the years.
The Spaniard, known as ‘The Bull’, used to fear nothing on the tennis court, a mindset that has helped him overcome many challenges in his career and on the court.
However, things have changed as Nadal is now more cautious in his playing approach. A serious injury last year almost ended his career, leading him to be more careful on the court. Despite facing setbacks during his rehabilitation, he still carries a sense of fear from those times.
Even after playing for the third consecutive week, Nadal openly acknowledges his fear. While not yet at 100%, he is gradually working towards regaining his top form, as he mentioned at the 2024 Italian Open.
“I did the things very step by step, trying to make small improvements day by day. But arrive the moment today that I need to try. I mean, I need to try to play at my hundred percent. Is not easy because I need to lose a little bit of fear that I have in some shots because, for example, in Brisbane I got a tear on the place that I had the surgery last year.”
“Sometimes important surgery like I had, I had to remove an important part of my psoas tendon, put a lot of muscles around working more than before. I mean, it’s about having the right time to adapt all these muscles to this new configuration of the hip. But I don’t have that much time, no? That’s the problem and that’s the true.”
He did win the first match at the Italian Open, so things have been going well for him in Rome so far.
