Rafael Nadal says he will play at Wimbledon later this month if his body allows after the Spaniard won the French Open for the 14th time on Sunday.
Nadal, who crushed Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-3 6-3 6-0 to stay undefeated in Roland Garros finals, said: “I am going to be in Wimbledon if my body is ready to be in Wimbledon. Wimbledon is not a tournament that I want to miss.”
Nadal, who has been suffering from a chronic foot injury, now owns a men’s record 22 Grand Slam singles titles – two clear of his nearest rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
The 36-year-old explained he had played Sunday’s final with a numbed foot thanks to a series of injections throughout the tournament, but that he would not go through a similar procedure again for the grass-court Grand Slam.
“Wimbledon is a priority, always has been a priority. If I’m able to play with anti-inflammatories yes,” Nadal said. “To play with anaesthetic injections, I do not want to put myself in that position again. It can happen once but no, it’s not the philosophy of life I want to follow.
“Let’s see. I am always a positive guy and always expect the things are going the right way. Let’s be confident, let’s be positive and let’s see what’s going on.”
Nadal had considered retiring after a foot problem, which has troubled him throughout his career resurfaced, forced him to miss much of the 2021 season including Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open.
He arrived in Paris with his own doctor to get through the tournament despite the injury.
Giving details on what comes next for him, he said: “It’s going to be a radio frequency injection on the nerve and trying to burn a little bit the nerve and create the impact that I have now on the nerve for a long period of time.
“That’s what we are going to try. If that works, I’m going to keep going. If that does not work, then it’s going to be another story. And then I am going to ask myself if I am ready to do a major thing without being sure that things are going the proper way, for example.
“A major surgery that doesn’t guarantee me to be able to be competitive again and take a long time to be back [is a risk]. So let’s do it step by step, as I did all my tennis career.”
Wimbledon starts on Monday June 27, with former British No 1 Tim Henman believing that Nadal can enjoy more success in London and move three-quarters of the way towards the calendar grand slam if he can fix his injury problems.
“If Nadal is healthy, which is a big challenge now with this foot injury, can he win Wimbledon? Absolutely,” Henman told Eurosport. “That is incredibly exciting. In terms of who is going to end up with the most amount of grand slams – a couple of years ago I would have said Djokovic for sure.
