Rafael Nadal has admitted that he struggled to walk for an entire month after his retirement from tennis in a worrying health admission.
Nadal, one of the most successful and loved players of all time, says he badly struggled with foot pain after hanging up his racket last year.
The 39-year-old won 22 Grand Slam singles titles and was dubbed the ‘King of Clay’ due to his unprecedented success at the French Open.
Nadal’s foot problem was a chronic issue in the later stages of his career and he needed it numbed to land his 14th Roland-Garros trophy in 2022.
The Spaniard, who hasn’t picked up a racket since retiring, told The Athletic: ‘After my retirement, I was very bad in terms of pain in my foot.
‘I had very big difficulties to walk for a month.’
Nadal rules out coaching career
Nadal has also revealed he has no plans to begin a coaching career like fellow ‘Big Four’ star Andy Murray, who is currently inactive after his spell working with Novak Djokovic.
‘I have too many things in my life that for me are more important today,’ Nadal said.
‘I like tennis, I like other things, too, and I want to enjoy this moment of my life.’
Nadal reflects on Federer and Djokovic rivalries
Nadal says his rivalries with Roger Federer and Djokovic pushed him to the limit as the three men dominated the sport for two decades.
‘We never had time to relax,’ Nadal added. ‘We need to push all the time to the limits to compete in that era.
‘When I was practising, I was practising to improve by myself, but at the same time, you have these clear rivals in front.
‘I knew after [the 2011 season] that I had to add things to my game [to beat Djokovic].
‘[I] needed to be more aggressive and have a higher quality ball with my forehand when I was going for the winner. That was my goal.
‘In some way, having players like Novak or like Roger in front gives you a clear way about the things you have to do.
‘I needed my body and my physical performance to the highest level to compete against Novak on a hard court.
‘Roger was able to cut the points very fast with his serve, but Novak and me, our games are closer. He was better than me on hard without a doubt, but until 2013, 2014, I was able to compete against him the proper way.
‘Then later, when you have a lot of issues in the body, you lose a little bit of confidence in the movement. You start avoiding things that you feel you can’t do like before, because you feel that if you do this kind of thing, you can be injured.’
