Rafael Nadal on injury concerns: “Hopefully it’s just a muscle that’s super-charged”

The 37-year-old suffered discomfort in his quarter-final defeat by Jordan Thompson in Brisbane on Friday

January 5, 2024

Rafael Nadal says he’s hopeful that the left thigh issue that required medical treatment in Brisbane on Friday is just a sign of over-use after so long out of the game.

The 37-year-old left the court for a medical timeout in the final set of his 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-3 defeat by Jordan Thompson in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International, seemingly struggling with an issue in his upper left thigh/groin area.

A year on from the left hip/psoas muscle which kept him out for the rest of 2023, Nadal said he hoped it was just a normal fatigue issue players often suffer when making comebacks after a long time out.

“It is a very similar place to what happened last year, but different stuff, I feel (it’s) more muscle,” he said. “Last year was tendon. I feel the muscle (is) tired. I mean, for sure is not the same like last year at all because when it happened last year, I felt something drastic immediately. Today I didn’t feel anything. The only problem is because the place is the same, you are a little bit more scared than usual.

“In ideal world, I mean, is just the muscle supercharged after a few days of effort and a very tough match. That’s will be the ideal thing, something that we know that can happen today. That is why I’m talking all the time that my goal is to try to be competitive in a few months.”

According to the way how #Nadal has ended the match, and waiting for his feelings on press conference, it looks like the logical muscular overcharge after a three hours battle coming from a long-period injury.
— Pau Ferragut Massanet (@PauFerragut) January 5, 2024

Nadal: “Happy the way the week went, if that thing is not important”

Nadal might have won the match in straight sets, but after missing three match points in the second set, one at 5-4 and two more in the tiebreak, he was worn down in the third, eventually conceding defeat in three hours, 25 minutes.

“For my side, happy the way that the week went,” he said. “If that thing (injury) is not important, is a very positive week. If something is worse than what we want, then is not that positive.

“But let’s wait. I mean, is not the day to talk about these kind of stuff. Is the day to be happy and to congratulate the opponent. Then the next couple of days, let’s see how I feel. If I don’t feel well, then we going to do a test and we going to check it. But today is the moment to be calm and to wait how I wake up tomorrow and after tomorrow, then let’s see.

“I don’t know. I mean, I hope is not important and I hope to have the chance to be practicing next week and to play Melbourne. Honestly, I am not 100 percent sure of anything now.”