Former ATP player Alex Corretja doesn't think compatriot Rafael Nadal will be too impacted by his most recent injury setback.
The proposition is two-fold, of course. On one hand, Nadal himself played down the injury already, despite withdrawing from the 2024 Australian Open, admitting that it's not really catastrophic as it's a muscle injury and not something with the repaired him.
The way he touched his hip when he called the medical timeout during his match against Jordan Thompson at the 2024 Brisbane International seemed to indicate something more sinister with the hip itself. That would have been catastrophic, but luckily, it isn't.
The other part is obviously mental because he has endured quite a bit in recent months. Motivating himself to keep going when stuff like this happens isn't easy, but it's Nadal. He's one of the best players ever and a proper matador. If somebody can do it, it's him.
Former player Alex Corretja isn't thrilled with the development, but it's not unexpected according to him. Speaking to Eurosport, the Spaniard noted that muscle problems are common after long layoffs, but it shouldn't impact Nadal too much.
"It's certainly a setback that could happen. After so many months without competing, it is logical that muscularly you may feel some discomfort. The important thing is that it is not in the place where the big injury was made, that would be something to take into account and would perhaps be more worrying."
The mental part for Corretja is more interesting but he doesn't doubt Nadal capability to overcome it. The former player believes that he gets into the right mindset the moment he recovers well enough to compete. Judging by his Brisbane matches, that seems to be true.
"I believe at the moment that if Rafa recovers, it doesn't have to affect him mentally. "He has realised that his level has grown, that he is back to more or less where he wanted to be and now the only thing we have to hope is that he can recover, play a few more days and return to compete in the tournaments that he wants."
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