“Today is a difficult day for me” – Radael Nadal on the morning after

Rafael Nadal said the day after winning in Paris turned out to be a difficult one for him because his foot had woken up after he stopped taking the anti-inflammatory pills and painkillers that he had been on throughout the fortnight

Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros 2022 Image Credit: JB Autissier / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

June 7, 2022

In an interview to the ATP Tour in Spainsh, the 22-time Major champion he had not slept well the night after the win: “No, because my foot hurt. After two and half weeks taking anti-inflammatories and painkillers practically every six hours, because there was no other choice, it has woken up. And today is a difficult day for me.”

The 14-time Roland-Garros champion added that he was mentally prepared to deal with the situation since he knew it was going to come up as soon as he stopped the medication,

“I already knew it would be. I knew that would be the case when the tournament ended, I had accepted that. Everything I’ve done has led to this pain now, but it’s easy to understand. What’s difficult is not being able to train from day to day. For example, last year I ended Roland Garros and I was limping for two and a half weeks. I couldn’t even get down the stairs. Eventually, when I stopped playing for a while, a month and a half, it’s not a problem in my daily life. It stops hurting. It’s nothing compared to what I feel when I’m training and competing.

“All elite sportsmen take what we need in terms of painkillers in order to be able to compete” – Nadal

Spain’s Rafael Nadal reacts during his semi-final match against Germany’s Alexander Zverev (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

Nadal did insist, however, that he felt physically fine aside the foot injury he has been dealing with. “Physically, I’m very well, as I was throughout the two weeks. I’ve played matches over four hours long against Felix [Auger-Aliassime], Novak [Djokovic], and with Zverev we’d been playing for three hours when he got injured. In terms of my body, I felt good the following mornings. No muscle ache. I’ve felt fine.”

The Spaniard added that he did not remember the last time he had played a match without painkillers or anti-inflammatories but added that most elite sportsmen are used to taking them.

“All elite sportsmen take what we need in terms of painkillers in order to be able to compete. It’s clear that most athletes live with anti-inflammatories. It’s to be expected.”