Rafael Nadal has given an update on his wrist injury after having withdrawn from the third day’s play at the 2019 Laver Cup because of the same problem.
The highly anticipated match between Nadal and Nick Kyrgios at the Laver Cup was cancelled as the Spaniard withdrew due to his wrist injury.
Fans were excited to watch the rivals face-off on the final day of the Cup as well as watch the world’s greatest legends Federer and Nadal team up for the final doubles match of the Cup but were left devastated when Nadal’s left wrist injury caused him to back out of both matches and replaced by Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas respectively.
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Right after a spectacular win at the US Open Finals, Nadal kept his commitment to play at the Laver Cup despite mentioning that after the finals, his body indeed “felt a little down” but that was normal given the intensity of matches at the Open and no recovery period between the two tournaments.
On day 1 of the Laver Cup, Nadal was seen wearing tape on his left wrist which prompted many questions, but most importantly, if he could play the Cup or not.
Nadal reassured fans that he would be able to play and was playing in the practise sessions without any taping. The next day, Nadal played back to back matches, one singles against Raonic whom he beat in two sets and one doubles with partner Tsitsipas which they lost.
The world number two showed no discomfort during either match and therefore, there was no cause to predict that he might not play on the third day.
Nevertheless, Nadal played an instrumental role in coaching every single member of Team Europe on court during their matches whose contribution was acknowledged by Tsitsipas, who tweet saying he saw “another side” of him.
Nadal said that he woke up with inflammation on his left wrist on the morning of day 3. Nadal said:
“Since a couple of years ago I have that feeling on the hand. It is an inflammation on the hand, not the wrist. Sometimes the next day you are a little bit better, sometimes you are a little bit worse and today I think it is a little bit more inflamed.”
This is uncannily similar to the time Nadal withdrew from the 2014 US Open and the 2016 Roland Garros.
Nadal seems hopeful about competing for the remaining season but the pressure to secure the No.1 ranking before the year ends will be on, as Nadal’s US Open victory has put him closer to overtaking Djokovic who was also injury-ridden and has just returned to the courts. He is also just one grand slam away from Federer’s record which he will look to cross in the next season.
One can only hope that this persistent problem does not come in the way of Nadal continuing this season with the four remaining tournaments he is scheduled to play, beginning with the Shanghai Masters in early October and ending the year with the Davis Cup.
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