Rafa Nadal calls for major change after heartbreaking injury setback
Rafael Nadal says tennis officials should consider playing less tournaments on hard courts.
In the wake up his latest knee injury, the current World No.2 said he thinks more injuries occur because the majority of events on the men’s and women’s tours take place on hard surfaces.
Nadal was forced to withdraw before his semi-final clash with Roger Federer at Indian Wells, another crushing injury blow for the Spaniard.
After a string of injuries in recent years, Nadal wants officials to consider changing some events to grass or clay court.
“If you check all around the world and which kind of surfaces the other sports are competing at the highest level, it is difficult to find a surface that hard like the surface that we play tennis and with the aggressive movements that we have in this surface,” the 32-year-old told reporters.
“I love to play on hard, but probably my body doesn’t love it that much.
“And my feeling is there is a lot of players that love to play on hard, but their bodies don’t love to play on hard, either.”
Nadal denied that his comments were an attempt to get more events on his favoured surface of clay.
“Sometimes people can say or can think that when I say that, it’s about thinking about the personal benefit on saying this, to play more on clay or this kind of stuff,” he said.
“The tour will not change during my career. But in my opinion, it will be better if, in a couple of years, maybe 15 or 20, we find a solution to play on softer surfaces for the bodies.
“It’s not only my tennis career that I am worried about. It’s about after your tennis career that you are still a human person and you still want to have a normal life at the age of 35 or 38 when you retire
“And playing in these kind of surfaces, I see this as a little bit more difficult.”
Missing Miami too
Nadal said he would now return home to Mallorca and would not play in the upcoming Miami Open. He hopes to return at the Monte Carlo Masters, which begins April 14.
It was just the fifth time in Nadal’s career that he had conceded a walkover, and the first to Federer.
Nadal choked up discussing his withdrawal last fall and he appeared near tears on Saturday.
He admitted that he sometimes is sad because he feels at a disadvantage against his opponents due to his continued knee issues that force him to limit his practice and playing time before he gathered himself.
“It’s not the moment to complain much. With all this stuff, I still where I am today,” he said.
with AAP
