Rafael Nadal called time on his 2021 campaign earlier in the season after a foot injury continued to plague him.
The Spaniard expressed disappointment at the decision but underlined the importance of doing so in order to extend his career for a couple of more years. Days after that his uncle Toni said the injury is nothing new and that Nadal has been dealing with it since 2005. His coach now shared a new update on his condition saying:
"Rafael Nadal's main goal is to recover the right sensations in his foot and brain, because playing in fits and starts all year has certainly not helped him. He started the season with back pain in Australia, in fact, he was far from 100% in the first Grand Slam of 2021."
Moya continued by expressing that it's no coincidence he only played 7 events this year while also highlighting that there is no exact treatment:
"It is no coincidence that he has played just seven tournaments this year. Given his physical condition, his best choice was to stop, allow the foot to rest and refresh his ideas to get ready for 2022. The nature of this injury has been known to us for some time, there is a diagnosis, but it is not clear what the best treatment is. In the last match, he played practically lame."
Nadal is widely expected to return at the 2022 Australian Open but so far it's not been confirmed whether he will or not as the event is still month away.