‘Dangerous for my foot’ – Rafael Nadal explains his decision to skip the Miami Open
Rafael Nadal will miss the Miami Masters as the quick transition from hard courts to clay courts could prove too “dangerous” for his foot injury and he needs to make the change gradually.
21-time Grand Slam champion Nadal has enjoyed a perfect start to the new year as he has won a total of three tournaments and is yet to lose a match, boasting a winning record of 17-0.
So far this year, the Spanish great has won the Melbourne Summer Set, the Australian Open, and the Mexican Open.
He is also still competing at the ongoing Indian Wells Masters after having beaten American youngster Sebastian Korda and British number two Dan Evans.
This remarkable run comes fresh off the back of a near-six-month-long injury lay-off as well as contracting Covid-19 during the pre-season.
However, Nadal has announced that he will not compete at the Miami Masters next week due to both an unexpected amount of games and an extremely quick transition from the hard courts used at Indian Wells to the clay courts used at Miami.
Speaking after sealing his 400th Masters 1000 victory against Evans, Nadal said “I didn’t play Miami for the last couple of years. I am almost 36. I played much more than what I expected at the beginning of the season.
“For my body, it is not good to have quick transitions from different surfaces. Clay to hard – well, hard to clay.
“If I play Miami, I will not have time to rest and no time to make a swift transition to the clay.
“I need to push since the beginning very hard, so that’s dangerous for my foot, for my knees.
“I need to make that transition step by step. I cannot make drastic changes like I did in the past, so that’s why I decided to stop after here and to have, like, three weeks before the clay court season start for me.”
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