Nadal Has A Long List Of Australian Open Injuries

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 28th January 2014

Nadal Has A Long List Of Australian Open Injuries

epaselect epa04042356 Rafael Nadal of Spain grimaces as he receives medical treatment during his men's final match against Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 26 January 2014. EPA/MADE NAGI |

The pre-match back problem which ended any chances for Rafael Nadal in his losing Australian Open final against Stanislas Wawrinka was only the latest in a run of injury problems at the tournament for the Spaniard.

While good fortune seems to smile on the 27-year-old at the French Open where he owns eight titles and has lost only one match, it’s much the opposite at Melbourne Park.

Nadal’s list of Australian injuries include: 2006: foot injury withdrawal; 2010: knee injury retirement against Andy Murray; 2011 hamstring, lost to David Ferrer; 2013: knee injury withdrawal; 2014: back.

“It’s true that I was not very lucky, this is a tournament that is painful for me,” Nadal after losing 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to Wawrinka, no third on the ATP list. “It’s a tournament that I love so much. The conditions are good for me, warm conditions that I like, good crowd. The court, it’s true that is faster than the previous years. But normally we play in normal speed conditions that I like to play.

“But this is a tournament where I really had some troubles physically in my career, that is painful for me. But it’s part of life, part of sport. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just another tough moment and it’s not my first.”

Nadal felt back pain during the pre-match warm-up, lost the first set and was taken off court by the training after the third game of the second set. It was a little bit worse in the first set and at the end of the first set, it felt the worst. I really felt it in the second set during a serve in a bad movement., It was very stiff, very bad.

“But this is not the moment to talk about that, it’s the moment to congratulate Stan. He’s playing unbelievable and really deserve to win that title.””

World “No. 1 Nadal was content to count his blessings: “I feel very lucky that I’ve enjoyed many more happy moments than tough moments. At the end it’s a sport of victories. People remember the victories, they don’t remember the loses.

“It was a tough one tonight because I felt that I was ready to compete well. But in a few weeks that’s going to pass. I’m going to keep playing, going to keep training hard, I’m going to keep enjoying the world of tennis.”

Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Atp, Australian Open, David Ferrer, Rafael Nadal, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News