Rafael Nadal appeared to be cruising in his third-round match against Denis Shapovalov at the 2022 Italian Open in Rome, but a late match collapse propelled the Canadian into the quarter-final.
These two played a spectacular match last year in Rome, and while Nadal was able to mount a comeback in that meeting, this time around, it was Shapovalov who came back to win.
Nadal was excellent in the first set, taking it 6-1 as Shapovalov struggled to keep the ball in play. Things changed in the second set as Shapovalov started hitting more than missing but Nadal allowed him that.
The Spaniard was spotted limping in the final set which Shapovalov won 6-2. The Spaniard was asked about the issue directly after the match and he admitted that he struggled with his leg.
"I felt a lot of pain in my foot. I am not injured but it is not easy to live with this situation. It's frustrating. Tonight in the middle of the second set I started to suffer. But I have to say good from Shapovalov as well."
Of course, he didn't forget to praise his opponent, but with the Roland Garros around the corner, Nadal had to think also about the possible development of his situation.
"How will I be in a week? I don't know. Unfortunately my day-by-day is difficult, honestly… it’s difficult for me to accept the situation sometimes."
"Today at half the second set, it starts and then it wasn't playable for me… I don't want to take away anything from Denis… Today is for him. Well done for him."
He admitted that since he made his comeback to the tennis court, he struggled with his foot, which didn't allow him to practice as he would like to.
"Since I came back, the foot has been tough. It's tough for me to be able to practise the proper way days in a row. So then you need to move well to compete at the highest level, something that I am not able to practise."
"The toughest thing for me today is honestly I start to feel myself play much better. I started the match playing much better. My practice was much better, the warmup, than the other day."
Nadal's foot troubled him last clay season as well, especially at the French Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. He will hope to avoid a similar fate this year.
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