Nadal practising hard on grass, set to update media on foot progress, Wimbledon

Some positive news, it seems, for those waiting to see if Rafael Nadal will play at Wimbledon later this month.

The 36-year-old was filmed hard at work in training by UltimaHora.es, the Mallorcan newspaper, on Wednesday, where he trained on grass with his coach Carlos Moya and a Spanish youngster, Martín Landaluce, in a session that reportedly lasted two and a half hours.

Nadal is due to speak to the media in Mallorca on Friday afternoon, his representative confirmed to Tennis Majors and though no details of what he’ll say were revealed, the state of his chronic left foot and his participation at Wimbledon will doubtless be high on the agenda.

Nadal looking good in training

Shortly after winning his 14th Roland-Garros title earlier this month, Nadal had radiofrequency injections in his left foot, hoping they will kill the pain on a more permanent basis, instead of the short-term relief he received from steroid shots during the French Open.

Pictured on crutches soon after the treatment, Nadal took a few days off and slowly returned to exercise, setting foot on grass for the first time in Mallorca earlier this week.

In a video posted by Ultimahora.es, Nadal is seen hitting groundstrokes with his customary venom, while the report says the extensive practice session included volley and serve practice.

Nadal halfway to calendar-year Grand Slam

Should he be fit for Wimbledon, Nadal would not only be trying to win the title for a third time and extend his record tally of Grand Slams to 23, he would also be looking to win the third leg of the coveted calendar-year Grand Slam.

Nadal’s win in Paris meant he has won the year’s first two majors for the first time in his career. If he plays at Wimbledon, he will be the No 2 seed behind Novak Djokovic, with world No 1 Daniil Medvedev banned as part of Wimbledon’s ruling on Russian and Belarusian players, and Alexander Zverev out through the ankle injury he suffered in the semi-finals in Paris against Nadal.

Nadal missed Wimbledon last year through injury. He has reached the semi-finals in the past two years he’s played there, in 2018 and 2019.

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