Rafael Nadal chose a completely different sport to prepare for Wimbledon and played a golf tournament before traveling to London.
Nadal is an ardent fan of golf and plays the sport at an amateur level in his native country. He has stated in the past that golf helps him unwind from the rigors of traveling and playing professional tennis.
Golf is also serves as a fantastic workout for the body. But it's quite amusing that Norway's Casper Ruud elected to prepare for Wimbledon by playing golf.
There might be a positive correlation as the two sports share the same surface composition, and it seems that the 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal is convinced about improving his level on grass by playing golf.
It's no secret that Rafael Nadal loves competition no matter where he is. Before one of the most important tournaments of the season, he created time to play golf and even be quite successful. On the first day of the tournament, the Spaniard finished fourth, which was a great result.
He was initially ruled out from playing at this year's Wimbledon because of a foot injury he sustained during this year's clay-court swing. Nadal has revealed that it is a chronic injury that he's carried throughout his career.
But he played with the pain and emerged victorious at Roland Garros in early June. He defeated Ruud in the final to win his 14th title in Paris and 22nd Grand Slam overall.
So far, he is undefeated in 14 Grand Slam matches and was also a champion at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco. Nadal will need to overcome the odds if he bids to win an impressive hat-trick of majors to start the season.
He has not signed up to play in any ATP warm-up tournament on grass but could play the Hurlingham exhibition in the final week before Wimbledon starts.