"The foot was asleep" - Nadal reveals numbing injection before the match

Rafael Nadal told Eurosport his troublesome left foot “was asleep” during his romp to a 14th French Open title and said he needed multiple injections to last the tournament.

The Spaniard dropped just six games in dismantling Casper Ruud in Sunday’s final before dampening speculation he was set to retire. Nadal has been tormented by a chronic foot injury, which ruled him out of the back end of last season and interrupted his progress this campaign.

Speaking after his victory to Eurosport experts Mats Wilander, Tim Henman and Barbara Schett, Nadal admitted that he needed medical support to get through the fortnight in Paris. He said:

“If I didn’t believe, I probably wouldn’t be here. It was a big surprise [to be here], unexpected and as everyone knows in the world of tennis, the preparation was not ideal. I had been off the practice courts for a month and a half with a stress fracture on my rib, and then I had [a problem with my] foot. It stayed there all the time. In Rome it was difficult, but it’s been amazing… I’ve had my doctor here with me."

He added:

“We played with no feeling in the foot, with a [pain-killing] injection on the nerve. The foot was asleep, and that’s why I was able to play.”

When asked how many injections he had in the tournament, Nadal quipped: “It’s better you don’t know”.