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What should Nadal do for the rest of his 2018 season?

By Keshav Gopalan

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 07: Rafael Nadal of Spain walks off the court after he is forced to retire due to injury in his men's singles semi-final match against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina on Day Twelve of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 7, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 07: Rafael Nadal of Spain walks off the court after he is forced to retire due to injury in his men's singles semi-final match against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina on Day Twelve of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 7, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Rafael Nadal has had an excellent 2018 season so far, with an excellent showing in Wimbledon and Toronto aside from his (usual) victories in clay. Despite failing to defend his title in the US Open, he reached the semifinals where he had to retire due to a (recurring) knee injury.

Nadal is slated to play in Beijing next, which is a warmup tournament for Shanghai. He won in Beijing last year and was runner-up in Shanghai. However, his knee tendonitis has returned once again and Nadal must now decide whether he’ll be fit enough to play both tournaments and more in the coming months, not to mention his Davis Cup match he was slated to play, which he will now miss.

He’s getting older

Which means he should perhaps consider cutting down on his season and the number of tournaments he plays. While he’s done that this season, the only reason for that is because he didn’t play for 2 months from February till April. His season since has been more or less the same in comparison to 2017.

Regardless, his injury in the US Open didn’t seem as bad as it did in the Australian Open against Cilic, where he could barely run, was clearly limping and looked to be in pain. This wasn’t the case in his match against Juan Martin in the US Open, where he looked to be moving alright except while trying to retrieve balls that were far out.

Recovery might be shorter

In comparison to his injury in Australia, his recovery period will likely be shorter. Which means he’s likely to return to the tour soon. However, he should treat this with precaution and return only when he’s fully fit. 2017 saw Nadal injure himself in Shanghai and play Paris and London, which he pulled out of midway and subsequently pull out of every tournament from there on till Miami in 2018.

Conclusion

Rafa is 32 now with a very physically taxing style of play. While he needs to cut down on the tournaments he plays in the season, for the 2018 season, he should return only during the indoor hard court swing to ensure he can play at a 100%.

Next. US Open in Pictures: Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka. dark

Another point to consider will be the year-end number one spot. Djokovic is slowly closing in on the rankings. With his current form, he’s likely to clinch a few big titles in the coming months and will close in on the #1 spot. If Rafa really wants to hold on to the #1 spot, he might have to schedule his season accordingly.

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