The victory of Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros does not suffer from any challenge on the courts, the Spaniard having crushed his opponents one after the other, from Novak Djokovic to Alexander Zverev via the surprise Casper Ruud in the final. A new feat for the 36-year-old tennis player who thus won his 22nd Grand Slam tournament, propelling him even further to the rank of absolute legend in his sport. After his triumph, he took advantage of his few days off to parade in Paris with his trophy before returning home yesterday in Majorca.
Despite this stunning new performance, voices are rising in the sports world to question the way Rafael Nadal won his 14th Roland-Garros. Suffering from Müller-Weiss syndrome, the Spaniard suffers a lot from his left foot and so that he can bear the pain, he underwent infiltrations throughout the Paris fortnight. Nullified at the level of his foot, the husband of Xisca Perello was able to play normally, but without this help, he would not have been able to participate in the tournament. A problem that questions the French cyclist William Martin. The Cofidis runner, interviewed by L’Équipe, expressed his doubts.
It can certainly have effects on the performance or be diverted in order to improve the performance
“What Nadal did would have been impossible on the bike, and I find that normal. If we are sick or injured, we don’t run, we don’t compete, that seems like common sense to me.”launches Guillaume Martin before continuing: “The drugs and even more the infiltrations do not only have a healing effect, it can certainly have effects on performance or be diverted in order to improve performance, so It seems very limited to me..
Heavy accusations from the 28-year-old cyclist who almost evokes a doping situation on the part of the Spaniard. “If a cyclist does the same thing, it’s already forbidden, but even if it weren’t, everyone would fall on him calling him doped”, he concludes. Very strong words from Guillaume Martin, who does not hesitate to castigate the attitude of Rafael Nadal, who, despite the pain, continues to impress the world of tennis.
Find the interview with Guillaume Martin in full on the L’Équipe website.