With
Jannik Sinner and
Carlos Alcaraz in particular continuing to get injured so young and having stop start careers as such,
Rafael Nadal was quizzed about their injuries and what the solution could be ahead of the
Rome Open.
But for the Spanish legend, he said that whenever players push their body to the limit, they get injured and when the surfaces are tough, the same applies and that it simply happens. Nadal said that while it is sad for the tournament that they can't play, they unlike him have age on their side to have many successful years in the sport and at Rome so it shouldn't be looked into as much.
“The injuries have been always there. That's the truth. I understand that for you guys Jannik not playing here is terrible news, especially the way he's playing this year," said Nadal during Rome Open press.
"But, I mean, we can talk about that for hours because at the end we have been talking about that for so many years. Now with Carlos and with Jannik not playing here, the conversation is on the table again. Nothing changed. Just the coincidence that two of the best players in the world are injured today.
"If we want to talk about why people get injured, I’ll tell you very clearly when you push your body to the limit, you get injured at the end. When the game is faster and faster and faster, you get injured. When you play most of the year on hard courts and the surfaces are tougher for the body, you get injured. That's the simple answer.
"Then other world is on the side. That is about the tournaments. That is about the business, about the sport by itself. That's another conversation. At the end the players want to make money. The tournaments want to make money. Then it's the whole cycle that comes together. We accept that role.
"Things happen. You don't have to tell me about injuries, that I missed a lot of important, very important tournaments in my career because of the injuries. You cannot complain about that. You accept what's going on. You keep going. You get injured, you have to recover well.
"They are young. They are going to have plenty of times to play in Rome and have a lot of success here. No drama. Tournament will survive even without Carlos and Jannik that are super important players for any event, any tournament today. Especially for Italy, to not have Jannik playing here after all what he represents today in this country, I think it's terrible news. Even for me as a spectator, as a colleague of him, I feel so sad for him because he deserve to play here. That's it. I wish him, and Carlos of course, all the best and I wish to meet them in Roland Garros.”
