PARIS – June 7 (ONLINE) Rafael Nadal would probably not have played any Grand Slam other than the French Open with the chronic foot injury that needed numbing injections in Paris, the 14-time Roland Garros champion said on Monday.
The Spaniard’s record-extending triumph on the Paris clay earned him an all-time best 22nd men’s singles major with a 6-3 6-3 6-0 crushing of Norway’s Casper Ruud and put him two titles clear of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
It was the ‘most unexpected’ of his French Open titles, Nadal told Reuters on Monday after limping into the scintillating salon of a central Paris hotel.
Asked if he would have played any other Grand Slam with the injury that forced him to have injections to numb his foot, Nadal said: “Probably not”.
“We have been through a lot of emotions. Probably the most unexpected, surprising (title) and all the things I had to do to play the event makes the title one of the most special,” the 36-year-old said.
Nadal said that because of the injury, which also meant he arrived in Paris with no title on the European clay, he was not confident he would be able to fight for the Musketeers’ Cup.
“Of course when you arrive with a poor preparation like I did, every day is a challenge; you need to increase your level of tennis every single day,” he explained.
Nadal has traditionally started his French Open campaigns with at least one claycourt title under his belt but this year got to the French capital empty-handed.
“(Winning those titles) gives you an extra security if you want to reach at least the level you need to fight for the final rounds,” the Mallorcan said.
“This time before the tournament started I didn’t know if I would be able to fight for the second week so I just took it one (round) at a time.”
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