Rafael Nadal chimed in on the injury conversation as a player who, unfortunately, had to deal with quite a few throughout his career.
Nadal is no stranger to injuries because they've followed him for a long time. Even in the earliest days of his tennis career, the Spaniard was mentioned as a player who knows what it's like to deal with injuries.
Injuries have always been present, whether it was knee problems, foot problems later on, or hip problems now. It's actually what he mentioned when asked by the media about the apparent rising trend of player injuries.
Just this week, Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Italian Open and so did Jannik Sinner, who won't play in Rome, and according to Nadal, it's not unusual.
According to the Spaniard, injuries have always existed. It's just that this week, we won't have some of the best, which is just a coincidence.
"The injuries have been always there. That's the true. I understand that for you guys Jannik is not playing here is a terrible news, especially the way he's playing this year. But, I mean, we can talk about that for hours because at the end we have been talking about that for so many years."
"Now with Carlos and with Jannik not playing here, the conversation is on the table again. Nothing change. Just the coincidence that two of the best players of the world are injured today."
Nadal is much more interested in discussing why players get injured because, to him, that's what's important to focus on. There were many players, who pushed back against the calendar being extended further because it's too demanding already.
"So the conversation is a much deeper conversation that today the three best players of the world are not able to play in Rome. If we want to talk about why people gets injured, I tell you very clear: when you push your body to the limit, you get injured at the end."
"When the game is faster and faster and faster, you get injured. When you play most of the year on hard courts and the surfaces are tougher for the body, you get injured. That's the simple answer. Then other world is on the side. That is about the tournaments. That is about the business, about the sport by itself. That's another conversation."
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