Rafael Nadal played on grass suffering knee pain for years, says coach News

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Rafael Nadal played on grass suffering knee pain for years, says coach

By Daily Sports on July 22, 2018

When Rafael Nadal is healthy, he always performs at his best. Injuries were the only problem in the Spaniard's career, because the winner mentality was always there. And this year's Wimbledon proved it. After winning his 11th French Open, Nadal rested and prepared for The Championships. He reached the semifinals losing to Novak Djokovic. In the past, he was often unhealthy . 'It's basic that knees need to be doing well and you had several years when he was doing so bad' , Nadal's coach Francis Roig told El Espanol 'On grass the ball weights and you have to use the legs well. This (is) very important. And like everyone, Rafa depends on feelings. At the end he is human, and when he has knee pain you think that it can go bad. It lets focus go away, which on grass is really important to fight for everything.'

Nadal said: ' With bad knees you can't compete on grass. Despite you try it's impossible because you need stable on the most unstable surface out of all. If I am not stable, I can't play at a high level. Here you need to find a lot of strength from that part of the body and when the knee isn't 100%, or at least not at a high percentage that does not feel too influenced, it's impossible to compete well. Having said that, although doing well on knees you can lose.'

Nadal will play his first match since Wimbledon at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, on Wednesday, August 8 in the night session. The Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who defeated the Spaniard last year in the tournament, will open his campaign on Tuesday night. (Tennis World USA)

•Photo shows Nadal

Source Daily Sports

Posted July 22, 2018