Rafael Nadal: 'I haven't trained for three months to...'

During his career, Rafael Nadal has done the impossible, winning 21 Grand Slams (none like him) including 13 Roland Garros, rewriting entire pages of tennis history. But Rafa has had to deal with many injuries throughout his glorious career.

The last foot injury was due to Müller-Weiss syndrome: a particular disease that could end his career. Dr. Umberto Alfieri Montrasio, head of the unit of foot and ankle specialists at the Galeazzi Orthopedic Institute in Milan, in an interview for the Italian magazine Gazzetta Active, explained all the details of Muller-Weiss syndrome and what it can mean for the Rafael Nadal's career.

"It is such a rare degenerative pathology that even in the scientific literature many publications are case reports or case histories of a few patients.

Among the best known are a study from the 1950s with 56 cases and two studies by Maceira, de which the most recent and important was reported in the literature of 191 cases of 101 patients in 2004.

By the time you feel pain and movement difficulty, it's too late. Sometimes it is accompanied by a bump on the inside of the Midfoot. Typically, Müller-Weiss patients have a hollow foot, but this bulge on the inside of the midfoot simulates a flat foot.

Unfortunately, however, this symptom also appears late. We do not know the type of association between knee pain and Müller-Weiss syndrome, but it has been observed that some patients have pain in the knees, possibly related to incorrect foot support.

Rafa continues to operate under limitations Rafael Nadal made his comeback earlier this year and went on to win his 21st Grand Slam at the Australian Open. "I prefer to lose the final and have a new foot that allows me to be happier in my day to day life," Rafael Nadal said.

"Winning is nice and fills you with momentary joy. But life goes on and it is the most important thing. I have a life ahead of me and I would like to play amateur sports with my friends and right now this is unknown. These were the slowest conditions because it was very humid.

In addition, there was the and it was difficult to create effects on the ball," said the 13-time champion. "The first set that I won was a miracle, but I have been fighting all the time. I have suffered with the humidity, but I think he does too.

You have to be realistic and I assume my current limitations. I haven't trained for three months to endure depending on what things," he said.

"I stayed in the match as best I could, but it's true that I was in a better position at the end of the set. I had more energy that for a while, it was gone."