Australian Open: Rafael Nadal admits he had “doubts every day” on return from severe foot injury –Spaniard Rafa Nadal admits he had doubts “every single day” about whether he would ever return after missing the second half of 2021 because of a foot injury.
The 35-year-old looked in prime form as he beat Karen Khachanov on Friday, January 21, to reach the Australian Open fourth round, just weeks after a resuming competitive action.
It kept him on course for a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title, but Nadal says he is just happy to be back competing after the dark days of last year.
“I mean, everybody around me, me included, had a lot of doubts. Not about the Australian Open, no, but about coming back on the Tour because the foot was bothering a lot of days,” Nadal, who missed last year’s Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics, and the US Open, told reporters.
Australian Open: Rafael Nadal admits he had “doubts every day” on return from severe foot injury
“Of course, I still today have doubts because the foot, as I said the other day, is an injury we cannot fix. So we need to find a way that the pain is under control to keep playing.
“The movements, all this stuff, you need to recover day by day. There is no way to recover that without competing.”
With three supremely confident wins in Melbourne, following his title at an ATP warm-up event in the city, 2009 champion Nadal appears to be playing freely and has come a long way since even getting through a practice session was an achievement.
“For a lot of months sometimes I went on court and was not able to practice more than 20 minutes, on other days for 45. And then sometimes I was able to practice for two hours,” Nadal told Eurosport after his win.
“It’s been very difficult to predict every single day and I was working with a doctor to try and find a solution. I tried different things but it’s tough.”
“Lots of energy in my pocket to keep going, keep fighting.”
The sixth-seeded Nadal dropped his first set at this year’s Australian Open but still powered through to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 triumph over Khachanov
The Spaniard, seeking to claim a record 21st Grand Slam title in the absence of great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, was sensational as he took a two-set lead.
But Khachanov, seeded 28th, threw caution to the wind in the third set, stalling Nadal’s charge with some ferocious hitting.
Olympic runner-up Khachanov had lost all seven previous meetings with 2009 Australian Open champion Nadal but briefly looked capable of mounting a comeback.
Nadal seized back control with a break of serve at the start of the fourth, however, and with the clock having ticked past midnight on Rod Laver Arena he finished it off in a hurry.
Nadal, who has reached the last 16 in Melbourne for the 15th time in 17 appearances, will face another Russian, 18th seed Aslan Karatsev, or Frenchman Adrian Mannarino next.
“I played a great player tonight and happy that this was my best match since coming back,” the 35-year-old Nadal said on court.
“I’ve been going through some tough times in the last year but night’s like tonight mean everything.”
With Federer still injured and nine-time Australian Open champion Djokovic deported after a visa row, Nadal has a chance to edge ahead of that duo with whom he shares the record for most men’s Grand Slam titles.
After routine wins against 66th-ranked American Marcos Giron and German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in rounds one and two, Khachanov represented a step up in class for Nadal despite the Russian having only ever won one set off the Mallorcan.
Nadal was primed though and won 12 of the first 13 points to stamp his authority all over the court.
Khachanov had no answer to Nadal’s intensity and managed to win only one point on Nadal’s serve in the opening set.
Nadal broke serve at the start of the second set but Khachanov won an incredible point in the fourth game, picking himself off the floor to crunch a backhand winner and then winning another incredible rally to earn a break point.
He could not convert that and Nadal immediately broke in the next game on his way to a two-set lead.
Khachanov began to hit closer to the lines and with more menace in the third set, which he took after breaking the Nadal’s serve for the first time for a 3-1 lead.
Nadal simply found another gear though, firing a stunning backhand winner to break Khachanov’s serve, and spirit, in the second game of the fourth set.
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