Rafael Nadal will have good news for his foot whenever it wakes up.
After his record 14th career championship at Roland Garros and 22nd Grand Slam title overall, Nadal opened up about the steps he took to combat the pain in his left foot at the French Open so he could run on the clay court.
Nadal suffers from Mueller-Weiss Syndrome, a rare degenerative condition that causes him chronic pain and forced him to miss a large chunk of action last year.
“I had my doctor here with me,” Nadal told Eurosport after beating Casper Ruud, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0, in the French Open final Sunday. “I don’t know how to say in English the thing that we did, but we played with no feeling on the foot.
“We played with an injection on the nerve so the foot was asleep. That’s why I was able to play.”
There is no cure for Mueller-Weiss Syndrome, which causes a deformity in one of the bones in the center of the foot. Nadal pulled out of several tournaments last year, including the U.S. Open, because of the pain, and there was wonder whether he would be forced into retirement.
He returned to the court in December, but suffered a stress fracture to his rib in March that kept him out of action for about six weeks.
“I’ve been a bit surprised [that I won]. Unexpected, as everybody knows,” said Nadal, who just turned 36. “Especially as everyone knows in the world on tennis, the preparation was not an ideal one.”
After Sunday’s final, Nadal cast doubt upon his status for Wimbledon and said, “It’s obvious that I can’t keep competing with the foot asleep.”