Rafa Nadal likened his struggles with injury in the past 18 months to being in a jungle as the 14-times French Open champion hoped to return to Stade Roland Garros for the Olympic Games after making a premature exit from the Grand Slam on Monday. Never far from physical issues in his glittering career, the 37-year-old missed almost all of 2023 with a hip problem and his comeback earlier this year was stalled by a muscle tear, before small niggles affected his preparation for the clay court major. Rafa Nadal of Spain reacts during his defeat to Alexander Zverev of Germany in the first round of Roland-Garros in Paris on 27 May 2024.
(Photo: Ian MacNicol / Getty Images) Nadal crashed to a 6-3 7-6 (5) 6-3 defeat by fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Court Philippe Chatrier in Paris and although there were positives, he said he could not predict how his battered body would respond to the demands of the Games in July and August. “My body has been a jungle for two years. You don’t know what to expect.
I wake up one day and I find a snake biting me. Another day a tiger,” Nadal told a packed press conference following his earliest exit from Roland-Garros. “I’ve been fighting with all the things that I went through.
But the dynamic is positive the last few weeks. I felt ready. I think tomorrow I’ll be ready to play again if I have to.
But I will not have to. “So that’s the thing. Now, I need to prepare myself, I need to clear my ideas and see what’s the new calendar to t.
