FILE–Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns during their men’s singles semi-final match on day 11 of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships (Photo by ANDREW COULDRIDGE / POOL / AFP)
Rafael Nadal trained on grass for the first time on Monday morning, with a light session in Mallorca raising hopes he could overcome his foot injury to play at Wimbledon.
Nadal performed some gentle physical activities during a short, closed session at the Mallorca Country Club in Santa Ponca, where the Mallorca Championships begin on Sunday.
The plan is for Nadal to increase the intensity of his training from Tuesday until the end of the week and the 36-year-old will then decide whether to play at Wimbledon, which starts on June 27, depending on how his foot responds.
Nadal said his left foot was “asleep” from injections during his victory over Casper Ruud in the final of the French Open on June 5, a win that secured him a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title.
Nadal then traveled to Barcelona last week to begin “pulsed radiofrequency stimulation”, a treatment aimed at reducing nerve pain.
The treatment means the nerves around the area of Nadal’s injury were “temporarily numb”, a spokesman for the Spaniard said.
Nadal has for years suffered from a problem in his foot called Muller-Weiss syndrome, a rare and degenerative condition affecting bones in the feet.
“I will be there if my body allows it. Wimbledon is a priority, the Grand Slams are a priority,” Nadal said at Roland Garros, when asked about Wimbledon.
“Playing it with anti-inflammatories, yes; with anesthesia injections, no.”
Nadal has won Wimbledon twice, in 2008 and 2010. His 22 major triumphs puts him two clear of both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the all-time list of male grand slam champions.