Another grand slam tournament in the offing, another positive medical bulletin from Rafael Nadal.
Twelve days after revealing that he needed multiple anaesthetic injections to get through the French Open, where he won his 22nd major earlier this month, Nadal has confirmed his intention to play at Wimbledon after undergoing treatment to deaden nerve tissue in his troublesome left foot.
The Spaniard, who overcame the same chronic injury to win the Australian Open in January, said he would travel to London next week following an encouraging week’s practice on the grass courts of the Mallorca Country Club.
“My intention is to play at Wimbledon,” said Nadal. “The treatment and the week of training gives me hope, and I wouldn’t go if I didn’t intend to play.
“I haven’t played at Wimbledon for three years and I’m looking forward to it. I don’t know what can happen in five days. I’m cautious, but what has happened so far gives me hope that I can be present.”
Nadal had previously expressed uncertainty about his prospects of competing at Wimbledon, indicating in the aftermath of his victory at Roland Garros that he would not risk playing on grass with his foot numbed. The 36-year-old has suffered from Mueller Weiss syndrome, a rare degenerative disease that causes pain in the navicular bone, since he was a teenager.
However, after travelling to Barcelona last week for radiofrequency ablation treatment, which uses heat to reduce nerve pain, he is hoping to play in the pre-Wimbledon exhibition event at the Hurlingham Club next week.
“With the treatment in the nerves, strange things happen in your foot,” said Nadal. “You feel numb in some areas and not in others.
“What was done in Barcelona, where I was twice, is not a 100% immediate fix but changes are noticeable. I still have strange sensations, if I’m honest, but the joint pain that did not allow me to support myself has decreased.
“The week that I have been practising here after my treatment has been positive. I experienced some improvements. Different feelings on my foot, honestly, but I take that like a positive thing.”
Nadal, champion at the All England Club in 2008 and 2010, has never previously arrived in SW19 with the grand slam in play, largely due to the perennial dominance of Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. He has not reached the final since 2011, when he was beaten by Djokovic in his fifth final. Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon last year after his foot injury forced him to miss virtually the entire second half of the season, but reached the semi-finals in his two most recent appearances, in 2018 and 2019.
“I hope to be competitive,” said Nadal. “Grass is a very difficult surface and, when you haven’t played for years, as is my case, any round is difficult. The start of the tournament is going to be vital for me.”
The pursuit of the third leg of a calendar-year slam will not be the only difference this time around for Nadal, who also confirmed that he and his wife Maria Francisca Perello are expecting their first child. Nadal said he did not anticipate that his immediate schedule would change in light of the news.
“If everything goes well, I’m going to be a father,” he said. “I’m not used to talking about my private life. We live more peacefully with a lower profile. I don’t expect that my life will change much with it.
“At the moment, all has worked well for me, and I am not a friend of changing what works well. My intention is to play Wimbledon, rest, then Canada and then be ready for the US Open.”
Meanwhile, defending champion Matteo Berrettini is through to the last four at Queen’s Club following a 6-4, 6-2 win over Tommy Paul of the US. The second-seeded Italian, the champion in Stuttgart last week, will face Botic van de Zandschulp after the Dutchman saw off Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, 6-2, 6-4.
In the top half, former champion Marin Cilic, the seventh seed, continued his renascent form with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 victory over Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori.
“I am taking it step by step. I am trying to keep my form up and my level,” said Cilic, who also reached the last four at Roland Garros. “Every match is a challenge. I am focusing and taking it step by step.
Cilic will play Filip Krajinovic after the 48th-ranked Serbian ended the fairytale run of Ryan Peniston, the British wildcard who made light of his world ranking of 180 with a straight sets win over top seed Casper Ruud earlier in the week. Krajinovic reached his second semi-final of the season with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win.