Rafael Nadal credited with ‘miracle’ at Roland Garros by his doctor
Rafael Nadal overcoming his foot injury to win the French Open was ‘a miracle’ according to the Spaniard’s doctor.
Nadal has won both Grand Slams so far this year after missing a chunk of last season due to the problem.
The 36-year-old suffers from Mueller-Weiss syndrome – a rare degenerative condition that affects the bone. It is something he has managed throughout his career, although it has naturally got worse over time.
Just days before the French Open, Rafael Nadal limped out of the Rome Masters and he had to take pain-killing injections at Roland Garros to be able to continue in the tournament.
He has since returned to Spain to undergo radiofrequency treatment designed to dull the pain receptors in the affected area, and he the success of that will determine if he is able to play at Wimbledon.
His doctor, Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, has been doing the media rounds in Spain to talk about Nadal’s condition, and he says the scale of the player’s achievements in Paris are perhaps being underestimated.
“The objective is that this does not last any longer and that he can play Wimbledon,” Ruiz-Cotorro told El Partidazo de Cope of the radiofrequency treatment.
“[Nadal winning Roland Garros this year] seems to me a spectacular thing, it would be a miracle for any normal person, but he is able to do it because he really is a different person.
“It’s no longer that they numb your foot so you don’t have pain and suddenly you can compete, it’s accepting that challenge and then isolating yourself from all that feeling to later give you the opportunity to play several games with those conditions, also against very high level rivals.
“Coming in addition to the rib problem that had prevented him from having the proper preparation and rhythm of matches that he wanted. These things can only be done by Rafa.”
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