World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who has suffered a host of injury problems throughout his career, has revealed that he once struggled with anxiety, but has fully recovered from that feeling now.
The Majorcan, who is known for his tenacity and his relentless pursuit for excellence on a tennis court, disclosed that the back injury he suffered at the start of the 2014 season continued to trouble him until December of that year. Nadal had to undergo stem cell treatment during the off season to fix the issue in his back and when he came back he had serious doubts about his ability to even compete at the highest level.
That feeling of anxiety resulted in one of his worst seasons on the ATP tour as the 16-time Grand Slam holder lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the French Open and exited Wimbledon and the US Open in the second and third rounds respectively in 2015. Not only the results were disappointing for him, it was also the manner in which he lost those matches that became a cause of concern for him.
While Nadal lost in straight sets to his nemesis Novak Djokovic in the Roland Garros quarters, he was defeated by Fabio Fognini after the Italian came back from two sets down at the US Open. Nadal, who was in a commanding position in the first two sets, somehow managed to hand over his massive advantage to Fognini who eventually made a stunning comeback to upset the Spanish Bulldozer in five marathon sets.
Recalling his battle with anxiety, Nadal said: “In 2014, I linked several injuries and health problems, all of which caused 2015 to start with doubts, and those doubts produced an anxiety that was unknown to me until then, the reality being that this internal stress lasted for six or seven months.
“I have not had them again, they have disappeared, what can they come back to? It is possible.”
He added: “No one fails if he does his best to win, he fails when he does not try hard enough to achieve his goals.
“Everything possible is done to win, but there are uncontrollable factors, that for me is not to fail, I have never let myself go in games or in training.”
