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Rafa's injury
by MAC


There has been a huge amount of confusion and misinformation circulating around the internet ever since Rafa announced that he would not play the US Open. We are used to Rafa having problems with tendonitis but there had been hints that this was something different. The more gloomy predictions had this as being a career ending injury.

When Rafa announced that he would hold a press conference in Manacor, opinion was divided as to whether this would just be a clarification of the current situation or something a lot more scary. Thankfully, it proved to be the former.

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

This is the report from nou.amic -

Rafa didn't have a "press conference" as such, he did the rounds talking to each of the media's reporters individually, beginning with the TV channels and then moving on to the radio stations (who got 5 minutes each). So they all have different snippets.

The following is a translation by nou.amic of an article RTVE have on their website, which sums up what was said. It is based on their own and news agency provided material.

Nadal: "At this stage in my career ranking is not the most important thing"

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Tennis player Rafael Nadal has said that he is not concerned about losing the third place in the ATP ranking after his decision not to take part in the United States Open because of injury to his left knee and commented "you have to stop and recover to have a longer career".

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Nadal, who disclosed he suffers from Hoffa's Syndrome (inflammation of the infrapatellar fat pad), said that what is now most important is to recover. "At this stage in my career ranking is not the most important thing".

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Nadal declared that he is quite clear that recovering is what he is most concerned about at the moment. "What's most important now is to recover well and at the present moment my knee is not ready to compete in a Grand Slam. I'm going to try to recover as soon as possible to return with very good sensations, with a good solid chance of being able to compete and practice the very best I know how to."

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Nadal said "you feel happy when you can force your physique to compete." "That's what makes me happy, when I'm able to compete feeling I can force my body/physique all I want and at the present moment I don't feel ready for that."

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

The 26 year old Nadal said he still does not know if he could be ready for the Davis Cup semifinals, in Gijón against the United States from 14 - 16 September.

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

"I'm going to do everything possible to recover as soon as possible, my great hope is to be there if the captain wants me," declared Nadal, who has already won four of the five Davis Cup trophies in Spain's possession (2004, 2008 - when he was not able to play in the final -, 2009 and 2011).

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

"2005 was my worst time"

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

The player from Manacor pointed out that this lay-off, which began on 28 June after he was knocked out in the second round at Wimbledon by the Czech Lukas Rosol, is not the longest one in his career.

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

"The most difficult time in my career as regards injury was in 2005 with my foot (inflammation); at the present moment everything is as under control as it can possibly be. We'll see how it evolves; the thing is that it's maybe the longest I've had off in the middle of the season, in 2005 it happened at the end of the year."

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

He explained that his current injury is not the same as the patellar tendon one he has had in the past. "It's something different and I think that's positive because the tendons have recovered a lot compared to what they were like three years ago."

Nadal commented that it stems from the same injury he has had since February, the one that caused him to withdraw from the semi-finals in Miami.

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

"It was under control until Roland Garros, after that the pain got worse, obviously. It was a hard season from Indian Wells until the end of Roland Garros; I played practically all the matches possible with very good results till now."

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

After his defeat at Wimbledon, Nadal has successively announced his withdrawal from the Olympic Games, the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters 1000 and the US Open, which begins 27 August.

"When you say I might have been number one if it wasn't for this (the injury), it was an option, because I was doing really well in the first six months of the year; anyway number two, three, four, six, is not going to change much for me, either, I've been in the top two for a long time. You're always thrilled to be number one, then come the others."

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com

Rafa Nadal
Screencap by MAC for vamosbrigade.com


Two weeks later, Rafa's doctor, Angel Ruiz Cotorro, held a press conference to explain the latest details. Again er are indebted to nou.amic for translating this articlefor us.

Doctors sure of Nadal come back

The medical team treating Rafael Nadal's left knee have "totally" ruled out surgery being used on the Spanish player, who will undergo "conservative" treatment with which he could return to competition in approximately two months time. "After the last tests, we started conservative treatment and the tendon is responding well. Tendons evolve slowly and we plan to continue with that treatment and rule out surgery completely," said Angel Ruiz Cotorro, doctor in charge of treating the tennis player.

Ruiz Cotorro explained at a press conference at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona that the partial tear Nadal has in his patellar tendon "is not serious, far from it", so it was decided to apply treatment that will last for about one month. That treatment, according to the details he gave, will combine physiotherapy, iontoforesis (electrotherapy), laser and heat therapy, and Ruiz Cotorro said he calculated that in a period of two months the tendon will have evolved to within what is considered normal. "What he has had is patellar enthesopathy, an injury to the posterior fibres of the patellar tendon, which afterwards caused inflammation of the Hoffa's fat that surrounds the tendon," explained the Nadal family's trusted doctor.

He classified the injury as "annoying", but said that "there's absolutely no reason why it should plague him" for the duration of his career. "Medicine is an inexact science, but knowing Rafa and how it has evolved, we consider this to be sufficient time for him to get fit. But we mustn't rush things." The doctor also described the player's spirits when it was explained to him what injury he was suffering from and that it would impede him from taking part in the Olympic Games, and which will also prevent him from playing the Davis Cup semifinals next week against the United States in Gijón.

"Rafa was totally positive in his outlook, logically you're never very pleased the first day when you're told you can't take part in important competitions. But now he's in perfect spirits, and eager to recover and come back as soon as possible," he stated.

"It has been a tough situation. He did everything he possibly could to be at the Olympics," he added about his absence from the London Games and the US Open. "But he has adapted to the situation, he has assumed it and now he wants to recover as soon as possible." At all events, that return will only occur when there is "absolute certainty" that he has totally recovered. "In a month's time, if the tests are positive, he could be back practising."