Nadal marches in eighth Wimbledon quarter-final, coy on new injury
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal made his Wimbledon debut in 2003 when he was 17. Now 36, he is still playing and on Monday became the third-oldest player in the tournament's top eight in the ATP Open Era. He joins a club that includes only Roger Federer and Ken Rosewall.
Nadal, who has put his left foot injury behind him, is going from strength to strength on grass. He stepped up to defeat Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(6) for the second time.
The Dutchman, who had already been a victim of the Spaniard in the third round at Roland Garros, again took a beating on a surface that is more suited to his game.
However, Nadal closed the door from the tenth game. The Spaniard, who took six hours and 35 minutes to win his first two matches, wanted to preserve his body and save energy for the final straight.
The champion of 22 majors, without being a specialist on grass, has made it to the quarter finals in his last three appearances at the British tournament,
He is not leading any of the significant statistics, but remains in contention for the eventual crown, which would make him the sixth player to win the first three majors of the calendar.
Meanwhile, after the foot problems in Paris, there is a strong possibility the Spaniard could be experiencing another injury issue.
There are fresh concerns surrounding Nadal after he declined to go into the reason why he was wearing abdominal taping during his fourth-round match at Wimbledon.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner was seen wearing some kind of protection in the abdominal area after changing his t-shirt during one of the breaks.
In recent weeks Nadal has been dealing with physical issues due to a long-term foot condition he has. At the French Open he revealed that he had to undergo injections in order for him to continue playing en route to winning the tournament for a 14th time.
“I am a little bit tired of talking about my body. It’s not that I don’t want to answer your question, but at the same time sometimes I am tired of myself, all the issues that I am having. I prefer to not talk about that now,” he replied.
“I am in the middle of the tournament and I have to keep going. All respect for the rest of the opponents. I am just trying my best every single day. For the moment I am healthy enough to keep going and fight for the things that I want.”
Continuing to stay coy about his form and health, Nadal offered an alternative perspective when asked if he was nearing his best level once again. He has dropped just two sets in four matches played so far at Wimbledon which is his first grass-court event since 2019.
“It’s always the same here. It’s not about how close I am to the level or not. I don’t know that. I can’t predict what can happen.” He said.
“But the positive thing is the first two matches haven’t been good. Then two days ago I played at a high level for the first time. And today most of the matches, again, at a very positive level.”
