Rafael Nadal’s Knee Feels Good, But No Football For Him

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 31st December 2013

Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi

Rafael Nadal's Knee Feels Good, But No Football For Him

epa04001997 Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to his countryman David Ferrer during their semi final match of Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 27 December 2013. EPA/ALI HAIDER |

For more years than he cares to remember, playing tennis has equated to pain for world no.1 Rafael Nadal. However a slight modification to the off-season treatment he received in Barcelona after returning from an exhibition tour of South America has made a major improvement on the knee condition many feared might end his career a year ago.

Nadal is back playing the Qatar ExxonMobil Open after being unable to play last year. He has never won the Doha title, despite playing four years in succession prior to his enforced absence, reaching the final in 2010 and getting to the semi-finals in the two preceding events.

But this year he is insistent that his unsuccessful run could come to an end because of the improved treatment. “I feel that this one really make me feel more comfortable because I don’t have pain like I had,” said Nadal as he prepared for today’s opener against Lukas Rosol, the Czech opponent who sent the Spaniard to one of the most shocking defeats at Wimbledon in 2012.

“Last year it was hard not to have the chance to start the season from the beginning. So this year is a special feeling. I did some treatment on the knee after the end of the season. The good thing is that treatment is working really well, so I am feeling better and better every day. So that’s most important thing for me and I’m very happy for that.”

Nadal has been undergoing periodic platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP) with painful injections into his knees for some time. The treatment involves taking a small vial of his blood, spinning it in a centrifuge to separate the platelet-rich cells that carry growth factors that are believed to have a regenerative effect, and re-injecting those cells into the knee to speed up recovery.

He refused to be specific on how the latest treatment differed but continued: “Now I feel that I can do much more in my normal life than what I did last year and a half because of this treatment.

“True I played some golf, but I was not able to play in other sports and wasn’t able to enjoy myself practicing the sports outside of tennis. For me, that’s a very important part of my life, because I love to practice sport. Is true that I am professional tennis player, but I feel happier when I am able to do different things.”

However he still isn’t brave enough to indulge in his favorite passion, playing soccer. He did take a few penalty kicks during a celebrity shoot out during half-time in an Argentinian match during his exhibition tour of South America with Novak Djokovic .

But he said: “I will not play a football match, I haven’t done that for the last two and a half years. I love to play football more than anything else, but today I feel it would not be the right decision to take risks. Especially with the better feeling in the knees from few weeks ago. I am not that confident yet.”

Looking back to his epic catalogue of success in 2013 since returning to the ATP World Tour in February, winning ten titles including the French and US Opens, Nadal admitted: “It is true that I played a lot of days with anti‑inflammatories.”

Nadal didn’t experience the longest of relaxation periods after his South American tour, the treatment, trips to Paris and Madrid to accept awards and a poker playing excursion to Prague to satisfy one of his sponsors.

He maintained he is not critical of the ATP World Tour for the brevity of the off-season but still feels leading players are expected to play too many tournaments.

“The problem is the mandatory events that you have to play until the last week of the season,” he said, clearly referring to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, played indoors in London. “So for me there would not be any problem to have tournaments until 24th of December. But you don’t have to be forced to play. It should be you can choose.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, Atp, Atp World Tour, Lukas Rosol, Novak Djokovic, Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Rafael Nadal, Tennis, Tennis News, US Open, Wimbledon