Rafael Nadal ready for 'difficult' and 'painful' recovery from foot injury

Madrid: Rafael Nadal admitted on Wednesday he faces a “difficult” and “painful” recovery from the foot injury that forced the 20-time Grand Slam champion to miss Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open. Nadal ended his season in August due to injury and has said his foot is still a “little sore” in a presentation of a documentary about his tennis academy. The 35-year-old said he is “looking forward to improving and facing a process that will be difficult in some ways and painful in others but that I have to go through to fight for what I want again.”

Nadal published a photo of himself on Instagram on Saturday holding crutches with his left foot bandaged. He announced he had been in Barcelona “to receive treatment on my foot that will require a few days rest and a few weeks off the court.” After playing his last match of the year in Washington at the start of August, when he lost to South African Lloyd Harris , Nadal then pulled out of Wimbledon, Tokyo 2020 and the US Open. The Spaniard holds the joint record for Grand Slam victories in the men's game , tied on 20 with both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who lost in the US Open final on Sunday to Daniil Medvedev . “Over the years, things get more and more complicated because you have to be realistic, time doesn’t stop for anyone, but I am still excited,” Nadal concluded in the presentation of the documentary, which premieres worldwide on Friday.