Earlier this month,
Rafael Nadal won a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title by winning the
French Open, dispatching of
Casper Ruud in straight sets in the final to lift his 14th
Roland Garros trophy.
But Nadal's campaign wasn't without its struggles. The 36-year-old suffers from Muller-Weiss syndrome, a chronic condition that has caused him a lot of trouble throughout his career. The issue flared up again during the Italian Open this year, in his defeat to Denis Shapovalov.
After the Roland Garros final, Nadal said that he took injections everyday to help numb the foot and compete in the Major. Since that revelation, many fans have come up with theories that Nadal was doping.
Speaking on Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe, the 55-year-old former American professional addressed these conspiracy theories.
"So Nadal goes on to win," McEnroe said. "I don't know how he does it, he said he took some painkilling injections. I'm no doctor, I don't know exactly what they are. People, you know, there are conspiracy theorists now coming out in the tennis world. There's one conspiracy that Nadal is doping, he's taking some sort of drug."
McEnroe went on to assert that Nadal is tested all the time at Grand Slams, and that if whatever he was using was illegal, he would have been caught.
"Look, they test him all the time at the Majors and whatever they're putting in his ankle, I think it's just a painkiller," he added. "Again, I'm not a doctor, I don't know exactly what it is, but if it was something that was against the rules he'd be caught."