Rafael Nadal currently sits fourth in the ATP rankings, behind Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev. Highly anticipated at Roland-Garros, which begins on May 22, the 35-year-old Spaniard does not arrive in a position of strength. The one we nicknamed, among other things, the ogre of ocher in reference to clay, has not yet won any tournament on this surface. After being eliminated by his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz (new sensation of world tennis, only 19 years old) during the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Rafael Nadal was ousted from the tournament in Rome last Thursday.
It’s on the score of 1-6, 7-5, 6-2, and while he largely dominated the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (16th in the world) in the first set, the Spaniard finally had to bow. The fault of a pain in the left foot which completely destabilized him.
Rafael Nadal indeed suffers from a degenerative disease, very rare and incurable, which can put him in difficulty at any time. This disease is called Muller-Weiss syndrome. Affecting more women, this syndrome leads to a deformation of the bones of the central part of the foot and results in a kind of necrosis. “Imagine that you have a pebble in your shoe… It creates swelling in the foot, it is very very painful and disablingexplains Charlène Barré, physiotherapist and sports osteopath, asked by The Parisian. The concern is that it evolves on pushes. So sometimes Nadal can play well, other times not, which forces him to stop.“