He gritted his teeth not to give up, but the mass was said from the start of the third set: Rafael Nadal, unable to move normally due to chronic foot pain, was eliminated Thursday in the round of 16 in Rome at ten days of Roland-Garros.
“It’s a pain that comes and goes. Sometimes stronger, sometimes less. Today was crazy,” explained the Spaniard after losing to Canadian Denis Shapovalov (16th in the world) 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Chronic and incurable pain
He suffers from chronic and incurable foot pain (Muller-Weiss syndrome) which forced him to end his season last year in August. He only returned to competition in January to win the Australian Open and bring the record for Grand Slam titles to 21.
In March, the Majorcan was injured again, with a rib in the semi-finals in Indian Wells. He only returned to the circuit in Madrid where he lost in the quarter-finals to future winner Carlos Alcaraz. But in Rome, he had “again very bad foot”.
“I did not get injured, I am a player who lives with this injury. There’s nothing new. It’s there…”, he insisted. “I don’t know if I should rest or train. But I always have a goal in a week and a few days. I will dream of this goal, ”he assured in reference to Roland-Garros (May 22-June 5) where he hopes to fight for a 14th trophy. “Today I couldn’t play. But maybe in two days it will be better. At Roland-Garros, I will have my doctor with me. It can help,” he concluded.
Solid Djokovic
It is therefore Shapovalov who will face the Norwegian Casper Ruud (10th) to try to climb into the last four, perhaps against Novak Djokovic. The latter was very solid Thursday to dismiss the returning Stan Wawrinka.
In the past, Djokovic and Wawrinka have played memorable games. Today the Serb is N.1 while the Swiss has fallen to 361st place in the ATP and is trying to return to his best level after more than a year of inactivity to treat a foot injury.
And the difference on the court was stark. Wawrinka (37) did well – or forced his opponent to succeed – with some great tennis strokes, but nothing to worry Djokovic who won 6-2, 6-2. “I was solid, very disciplined from start to finish, I got him moving. We can see that he is not moving like before, he is slower, ”analyzed Djokovic.
Himself lacking in matches before defending his title at Roland-Garros, the world No. 1 proved to be very solid on serve and return, as well as physically and tactically in better condition than in Monte-Carlo ( eliminated from entry) and Belgrade (finalist). Wawrinka, however, did not offer him sufficient opposition to gauge whether he had progressed further compared to Madrid last week when he was eliminated in the semi-finals 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 by Alcaraz.