Rafael Nadal will go down in history as one of the best players ever. There is no doubt about that. However, perhaps without so many injuries he could retire as the best without any doubt.
And is that Nadal currently accumulates 22 Grand Slams, two less than Novak Djokovic, who with the 3 he won in 2023 overtook him to be placed with 24. And is that injuries are part of the sport and Nadal has suffered the most;
Thus, as José Morón explains in
Puntodebreak, he has missed a whopping 16 majors throughout his career, including the 2024
Australian Open due to various injuries, which cumulatively means 4 whole years without playing Australia, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, or the US Open;
As they comment in Puntodebreak, Rafa has won throughout his career one out of every three grand slams he has played (more than 32%), so, statistically speaking, he could accumulate five more. Of course this is nothing more than tennis fiction, but there is no doubt that injuries have been and are an important part of Rafa Nadal's career.
