Nadal reveals extreme physical toll behind 22 Grand Slam titles

Tennis legend Rafael Nadal has opened up about the immense physical sacrifices he made throughout his career, revealing he competed with serious injuries for years to achieve his 22 Grand Slam titles.

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I’ve had to make decisions about my health, where you are on the borderline between right or wrong. But if I hadn’t explored all that, I probably would have had 10 fewer Grand Slams. I’m not saying one or two, I’m saying 10 or 12. This is the reality.

In a new Netflix documentary series, Nadal reflected on the difficult decisions he faced regarding his health. "I've had to make decisions about my health, where you are on the borderline between right or wrong," he stated. He believes that if he hadn't pushed his body to the limit, he might have won significantly fewer Grand Slam titles, estimating a loss of "10 or 12."

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That was the origin of all my problems. Tennis became a race against time. Always having the doubt in my head of, ‘how long can I last with this foot?’ I never knew how long my career would last. I always thought, ‘maybe it’s the last year, so there’s no time to stop.’

Nadal's physical struggles began early in his career, with a foot injury in 2005 developing into Mueller-Weiss syndrome. This condition created a constant "race against time," as he explained, always uncertain about how long his foot would allow him to play. He used specialist insoles, which, while enabling him to compete, caused further complications in his knee and throughout his body.

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My knee was destroyed. The tendon basically had a hole in it. Having to play with an insole throughout my entire career threw the rest of my body out of whack.

Despite the pain and the need for treatments like targeted anaesthetic injections for the 2022 French Open, Nadal's passion for the sport never waned. "The suffering was less than my passion and my happiness for what I was doing," he said. His reflections highlight the extreme dedication required to reach and maintain the pinnacle of professional tennis.

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He doesn’t feel his foot, and he’s winning this? What are you going to tell me next? He’s going to play blindfolded, and he’s going to win it also?