Rafael Nadal has “good days and bad days” with his foot, according to his coach Marc Lopez, but nonetheless appears to be in good shape ahead of Wimbledon starting next week. It will be Nadal’s first match at SW19 since 2019, and Lopez admitted that they will not know exactly how things will go until the competitive matchplay begins.
Rafael Nadal’s foot is not causing him any problems ahead of his first appearance at Wimbledon in three years, says the Majorcan’s coach Marc Lopez.
Nadal memorably won the French Open earlier this month but revealed afterwards that his foot had been anaesthetised due to the pain he was experiencing as a result of his chronic condition, Mueller-Weiss syndrome.
The announcement that Nadal was going to have minor surgery on his foot following Roland-Garros in a bid to relieve the pain threw his participation at SW19 into some doubt, but the 35-year-old looked in fine touch when beating Stan Wawrinka at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic on Wednesday, with Lopez confirming his charge’s progress.
“There are good days and bad days,” Lopez told EFE after Nadal had conducted a practice session with Francis Tiafoe on Friday, which ended 6-2 4-1 in favour of the American.
“This surface is very unforgiving, everything happens very quickly. We are training with people who serve very well.
“At the moment, everything is positive. The foot issue, which was always the most worrying thing, is OK. We have to finish adjusting training, the other day [Wednesday] he played very well in the exhibition [at the Hurlingham Club against Wawrinka] and now we need to be ready for Tuesday’s [first-round] match [at Wimbledon].
“From everything you can draw conclusions, but in the end this is still training.
“What you have to do every day is feel more comfortable on this surface, which you hardly play on for the whole year.
“Rafa has not played here in three years. All the training sessions add up, even those in which you don’t feel good, because they help you correct things for the next one.”
Nadal will face Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the first round at SW19, and Lopez is expecting a tough test.
“He’s a guy who played very well in Miami [Cerundolo got to the semi-finals],” Lopez said.
“We haven’t analysed the draw yet, but all the rivals on grass are difficult because it’s a special surface and he [Cerundolo] comes from winning a good match at Queen’s [over Pedro Martinez].”
