'Four Months Without Touching A Racket': Nadal Reveals Tedious Recovery Process

Rafael Nadal has detailed his gruesome rehab period in which he did not enjoy many things in his personal and professional life.

The 37-year-old underwent surgery in June last year after tearing the psoas muscle on his hip during a second-round defeat at the 2023 Australian Open at the hands of Mackenzie McDonald. After a successful operation, the Spaniard did not immediately resume full-time training.

Instead, in a recent interview on ATPTour.com, the Spaniard reveals he lived four months without touching a tennis racket, which is a peculiar occurrence for a man who has played on the professional circuit for two decades.

Looking back on his journey, in which he returned from the longest layoff from an injury in his career, Nadal is delighted that all his hard work, perseverance, and resilience have borne fruits, adding that his "personal satisfaction" is quite high, having doubted his comeback.

"I have been working a lot to be where I am today, so personal satisfaction is is quite high. After all the surgery process that I had, I doubted if I would be able to start this January now, but uh, I feel much better today than what I expected, one month ago, and that for me already, that's super positive."

"It has been tough. Of course, I was not able to do the things that I wanted to do. After all the surgery probably has been four months without touching a racket."

Nadal stated that he could not "play and enjoy" tennis because he went through a lot of pain. He was forced to shut down his 2023 campaign with the intention of playing one farewell season in 2024.

Nadal has since retracted from his original decision and wants to test his body before deciding whether to play beyond this season.

While tennis has always been his priority, Nadal explained how he found comfort in his private life, spending a lot more time with his family and even witnessing his son's growth for a whole year. But the adrenaline rush of a tennis match is the one thing he could not find during his time away.

"I was not able to enjoy a lot because I went through a lot of pain for a long time, but at the same time, I have been able to be at home to enjoy the growth of my son during the whole year, to spend time with the family, to go on vacation for a longer period of time, to know places that I wanted to know and I was not able to do it."

"I have been very happy outside of tennis and I think I can be very happy outside of tennis, but this adrenaline, these feelings that you have on any sport are difficult to find in a daily basis."