PARIS – May 13 (ONLINE) Rafael Nadal said he will do everything in his power including having his doctor on hand in Paris to mount a competitive bid to win the French Open.
Nadal, who only recently returned from a stress fracture in the ribs, struggled badly at the back end of his match against the Canadian as he went down 1-6 7-5 6-2 in the last-16.
“I had my foot again with a lot of pain. I am a player living with an injury – it is nothing new. It’s something that is there,” Nadal, a 10-times champion in Rome, told reporters. “Unfortunately, my day-by-day is difficult, honestly. Even like this, I am trying hard… it can be frustrating that a lot of days I can’t practice the proper way.”
The 35-year-old missed the bulk of last season due to the foot problem before mounting a remarkable comeback to win the Australian Open in January and also prevailing in Acapulco. “Since I came back, the foot has been tough,” added the Spaniard. “Negative thing and toughest thing for me today is honestly I started to feel myself play much better. I started the match playing much better.”
Nadal’s preparation heading into the French Open, where he will be bidding for a record-extending 14th title, has been far from ideal after he was also knocked out of last week’s Madrid Open by Carlos Alcaraz at the quarter-finals stage.
“First thing that I need to do is to don’t have pain to practice… it’s true that during the French Open, Roland Garros, I going to have my doctor there with me. That sometimes helps because you can do things,” said Nadal.
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