{"id":122357,"date":"2026-05-29T14:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=122357"},"modified":"2026-05-29T14:18:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:18:51","slug":"suffering-was-less-than-my-passion-for-tennis-says-nadal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=122357","title":{"rendered":"Suffering was less than my passion for tennis, says Nadal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 14 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Rafael Nadal had one of the greatest tennis careers the game has ever seen. He also spent nearly all of it in pain.<\/p>\n

Between his first French Open win in 2005 and retirement in 2024, the Spaniard won 22 Grand Slam singles titles \u2013 the second-highest total of any man.<\/p>\n

He was part of the \u2018Big Three\u2019 era, where he, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic carved up the sport\u2019s biggest prizes and thrilled fans.<\/p>\n

But a chronic foot injury meant Nadal had to find different ways just to get through matches, let alone win them.<\/p>\n

In a new Netflix series, the 39-year-old opens up about the risks he took to his health to achieve greatness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had to make decisions about my health, where you are on the borderline between right or wrong,\u201d Nadal said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if I hadn\u2019t explored all that, I probably would have had 10 fewer Grand Slams. I\u2019m not saying one or two, I\u2019m saying 10 or 12. This is the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2005, the long-haired, muscular teenage sensation announced himself to the world by winning the French Open at his first attempt, beating world number one Roger Federer in the semi-finals on his 19th birthday.<\/p>\n

He finished that season ranked second in the world, having won 11 singles titles.<\/p>\n

However, it was also the year Nadal\u2019s injury struggle began in earnest.<\/p>\n

After breaking his left foot during his Madrid Open final victory, Nadal was diagnosed with a rare degenerative condition called\u00a0Mueller-Weiss syndrome.,\u00a0external<\/p>\n

Speaking to the BBC World Service\u2019s Sporting Witness programme, Nadal said the foot injury was \u201cthe origin of all my problems\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to stay over-positive, over-determined, always ready to try to find a solution to keep being competitive and find a way to be on court again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went through, a couple of times in my career, a long process of injuries, but I think I was ready to accept that moment, to tolerate the frustration and to keep working with hope and passion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key was that the suffering was less than my passion and my happiness for what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Ernesto Maceira, a specialist who treated the Spaniard\u2019s foot, said the condition was caused by \u201cabnormal forces that act on an immature bone\u201d and attributed it to Nadal\u2019s intense training as a child.<\/p>\n

There were fears he would never play tennis again but, on the suggestion of Maceira, Nadal used a specialist insole to continue competing.<\/p>\n

But it meant he lived in constant pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cTennis became a race against time,\u201d said Nadal.<\/p>\n

\"Suffering
Tennis great Rafael Nadal has spoken about the extreme lengths he went to manage pain during his career<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAlways having the doubt in my head of, \u2018how long can I last with this foot?\u2019 I never knew how long my career would last.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought, \u2018maybe it\u2019s the last year, so there\u2019s no time to stop\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The insole also contributed to other health problems. In 2012, Nadal had to\u00a0withdraw from the London Olympics and the US Open\u00a0due to left knee tendinitis<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy knee was destroyed. The tendon basically had a hole in it,\u201d Nadal said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving to play with an insole throughout my entire career threw the rest of my body out of whack.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2013, against the advice of a specialist, Nadal decided to compete in the hard-court Indian Wells tournament.<\/p>\n

Using anaesthetics to manage the pain in his knee, he won the tournament and went on to win a further nine tournaments that year, as well as the French and US Opens,\u00a0reclaiming<\/span> the world number one ranking\u00a0from Novak Djokovic.<\/p>\n

However, he was using so many anti-inflammatories to manage his left knee pain that it caused other health issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have two small perforations in my intestines \u2013 small perforations that can come from too many painkillers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the 2022 French Open, the pain in Nadal\u2019s foot was so bad that he asked Dr Angel Ruiz-Cotorro to put the sensory nerve to sleep with targeted anaesthetic injections.<\/p>\n

He had no feeling in his foot \u2013 and yet he went on to win\u00a0a record 14th Roland Garros title, the last of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t feel his foot, and he\u2019s winning this?\u201d said seven-time Grand Slam singles champion John McEnroe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you going to tell me next? He\u2019s going to play blindfolded, and he\u2019s going to win it, too?\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeking professional psychological help<\/h2>\n

Nadal was coached by his uncle Toni from the age of three, using a tough-love approach.<\/p>\n

Toni himself described denying Nadal water for the first hour of training sessions as a child, \u201cto learn to suffer a bit\u201d, as well as encouraging his nephew to play on during a tournament as a child after he had broken his finger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won the tournament, but I had to wear a cast for a month,\u201d says Nadal.<\/p>\n

Describing the competitor\u2019s mentality, physio Rafael Maymo says: \u201cI think he likes to suffer, with the intention of overcoming that suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point, however, the pressure on Nadal caused such compulsive behaviour that he sought professional psychological help.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I didn\u2019t have a bottle of water in my hand, I couldn\u2019t swallow, and I would choke on my own saliva,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it was anxiety, but I couldn\u2019t find a solution. I tried to make myself believe that things were getting better, but really, I couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did have to go to a psychiatrist. He said it was probably due to all these years of high demand and constantly living with a feeling of stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

That process led him to\u00a0add former Spanish world number one Carlos Moya to his coaching staff in December 2016, which ultimately contributed to Toni moving on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationship with Toni on a professional level wasn\u2019t bad, but maybe I needed my head to hear a different message,\u201d Nadal explained.<\/p>\n

Between 2017 and retiring in 2024, the Spaniard won a further eight Grand Slams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lived the last years of my career with a little more sense of freedom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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