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Ahead of the Clay Season, Carlos Moya reveals Rafael Nadal isn’t at 100%

By Keshav Gopalan

PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during the mens singles final match against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland on day fifteen of the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros on June 11, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during the mens singles final match against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland on day fifteen of the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros on June 11, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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Rafael Nadal hasn’t had the best start to his season. After withdrawing from all his scheduled tournaments before the Australian Open, Nadal withdrew from his quarterfinal match in the fifth set against Marin Cilic after a hip muscle injury. He hasn’t played a match since, with the injury resurfacing before his scheduled comeback in the Mexican Open.

He has since announced a comeback in the Davis Cup tie against Germany, which will be played on clay in Valencia. This will be an important deciding match for Nadal to see if he is match fit and a good pre-tournament warm-up for Monte Carlo. However…

In an interview posted on tennisworldusa, Carlos Moya, Nadal’s coach, revealed that he isn’t at a 100%, saying :

“He has been training for a week, we go little by little, without doing crazy things, because you have to consider that he had two same injuries, basically.

He is not at 100% yet. But if he can win one or two matches it can help him.

We go progressing, the Davis Cup motivates us but we also know that after that, it comes a month and a half without stopping that is very important to him.”

Should Nadal play if he’s not at a 100% fit?

Nadal has been candid about him being a rhythm player. What this means is that he builds upon the rhythm of winning matches and/or tournaments. While this could be questioned, most fans are aware of how stubborn Nadal can be. Rushing a comeback is never a viable option and Nadal should be well versed with that line of thought.

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As for him being a rhythm player, it can be pointed out that he was doing fairly well in his matches in the Australian Open until his injury derailed him. With his only matches to build a rhythm off of being the tiebreak tens tournament, it really is odd that Nadal is in a rush to play again. Nadal isn’t a springly young man anymore and needs to take good care of his body.

We really do hope that Nadal knows what he’s doing and not rushing a comeback to protect his recently won #1 spot.

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