Rafael Nadal has been suffering from a foot injury for the past few months, which caused him to miss Wimbledon, the Olympics, Toronto and Cincinnati. The foot has been one of Nadal’s Achilles heels over the years, and he had to fight with it before as a teenager in 2005.
That year, Rafa made history by winning 11 ATP titles and entering the top 2 alongside Roger Federer. After losing a sizable lead to the Swiss in the Miami Open final, Rafa bounced back on clay and won Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Roland Garros, an incredible streak at such a young age.
After a short campaign on the turf, Nadal secured another remarkable crown in Montreal, beating Andre Agassi in the title clash and lifting the trophy in his first tournament in Canada.
Number 2 at the end of the season, the young Spaniard celebrated another title in front of his home crowd at the Madrid Open, winning his first and only indoor crown. Nadal beat four opponents in consecutive sets to prepare for the clash with Ivan Ljubicic, facing an opponent who had won two indoor titles in previous weeks.
After a titanic battle, Rafa won 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 after three hours and 53 minutes, making one of his most impressive returns to the race. and living one of the proudest moments of his debut.
However, the title came at a hefty price, as Rafa injured his foot during the battle, enduring the pain but barely standing the next day! Nadal had to skip the rest of the season and postpone his Masters Cup debut, only returning in February 2006 after missing the season’s first major at the Australian Open.
Roddick opens up on Rafael Nadal
On International Left-Handed Day (August 13), Andy Roddick spoke highly of tennis’s most famous left-hander – Rafael Nadal.
Roddick made special mention of Nadal’s cross forehand, pointing out that it has been one of the Spaniard’s main weapons over the years. “Yeah, a lot of those losses were suffered (against) a guy named Rafa, unfortunately,” said Andy Roddick.
“The problem is, only 13% of the human population is left-handed. We don’t have as many opportunities to play with the opposite effect. And Rafa didn’t really come across as a normal left-hander when it comes to service, ”Roddick continued.
“When you think of a traditional left-hander, you think of the big left-handed servers in the men’s game, those of Feliciano Lopez, Rusedki and even Ivenisevic, who were a real pain.
But actually, I didn’t mind playing against these guys too much because I was turning better on my backhand; it’s the only thing I did better on my backhand. ”The American added that it was“ no fun ”trying to deal with Nadal’s venomous cross forehand.
“But Rafa is able to revive a game of monopoly, if he has a cross forehand,” said Roddick. “He can get out of jail any time and get any drawing he wants. It wasn’t funny.”
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