Rafael Nadal has opened up about the tough moments he experienced while he was out with injury.
Nadal returned to professional tennis in a doubles loss in Brisbane with friend Marc Lopez. Encouragingly, the 22-time Grand Slam came through the match without any physical issues.
The Spaniard's singles return is set to be against Dominic Thiem, a man he beat in two French Open finals. It is a blockbuster draw, and a contest that tennis fans will undoubtedly be glued too.
Nadal was sidelined for nearly a year with a hip injury that he sustained at last year's Australian Open, with the tennis legend being sorely missed during his time out of the sport.
It was a very difficult period for Nadal, and he talked about the frustrations and setbacks he encountered during his attempt to return to the sport.
"I was week after week, the frustrating higher and higher. Frustration have been higher and higher because it was Monte-Carlo, then Bafrcelona, then Madrid, then Rome situation have been the same."
The recovery process taking longer than expected is hard for any player. But it is especially difficult for Nadal during those clay tournaments, where he has had so much success.
The 14-time French Open champion main goal was to return to Roland-Garros for the tournament he has dominated throughout his career, and this not happening was very hard for Nadal.
"The most important goal for me was Roland Garros. That's when I had to make my press conference. In that moment I didn't know I had to go for a surgery process."
Missing the Grand Slam he has had unprecedented success at was undoubtedly a major blow for Nadal, and something that would have taken him some time to come to terms with.
However, the will to fight his way back was still there, and the Spaniard's trademark resilience was shown when he talked about deciding to have a surgery.
"If I don't want to keep playing tennis, I don't need it. I don't need to have a surgery. So then was the decision to try it or not to try it. The decision was positive that I wanted to try and come back."
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