The issues Rafael Nadal has had with his knees, and his treatments and injury time outs, have been well documented over the years. It seems with each injury period the media starts talking retirement – but I have to say it is an unusual situation and even Federer has said it’s “big surprise, these two pullouts. I’m sad for him. I hope he’ll be back for the Open.”
Nadal made no secret that his goals for the 2012 season were Roland Garros and the Olympics. Ultimately, after losing early at Wimbledon, Rafa went home for some R&R – and apparently another PRP injection. It seems though it wasn’t enough to get him to the Olympics, Toronto or Cincinnati.
Sure, we all know Rafa finds Cincy a little boring but the fact that he will have no tournaments to play leading up to the US Open is extremely unusual for a man who takes a while to find his stride.
Nadal is yet to confirm he will even play the US Open.
Prior to the Olympics the Spaniard posted lots of photos on Facebook that made this latest knee situation look optimistic. Suddenly there is a clear shift as he announces he is out of the Olympics. Rehab and training photos follow before more recent shots of him relaxing on a boat in Mallorca with his family.
The Spaniard seems to be training quite a bit while also having lunch with his girlfriend Xisca Perello and the King of Spain so the question as to how fit he really is certainly seems unanswered.
It is possible, if you cast your minds back to the end of last season, that Nadal just decided that the early American hard court swing wasn’t worth the toll it would take on his body and he’s just having a break instead.
One of the many curious onlookers into Nadal’s latest episode of ‘Body Watch’ includes world number one Roger Federer.
“I was going to write him and check on him because I can’t believe he’s been out that long. I thought the Olympics, okay, that’s fine. That’s a personal choice.
I thought for sure we would see him in Toronto, but now he missed Toronto and Cincinnati. It’s very surprising, because it was nothing that we heard of prior to the injury. He played so well on clay, and then actually seemed fine at Wimbledon. He had more (recovery) time by losing earlier at Wimbledon.”
