It is undeniable that Rafael Nadal had one of the greatest careers in the history of tennis. There were 22 Grand Slam titles in total, including a record 14 Roland Garros titles and 209 weeks at number 1 in the world — all while playing in possibly the most competitive era in men’s tennis.
While his achievements have been widely documented, what few people know is how close it all came to never happening — and how an injury suffered early in his career nearly destroyed everything he had worked for.
Going back to 2005, Nadal was starting to build his name on the circuit. The young Spaniard won his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros and finished that season as world number 2.
But while many people in the tennis world were projecting a bright future after his explosive year on the tour, Nadal found himself facing the real possibility of never playing again.
At the end of 2005, Nadal felt a pop in his foot during a match. After tests, he was diagnosed with Mueller-Weiss syndrome, a rare degenerative condition that affects the bones of the foot.
This led to a period when it was unclear whether the 19-year-old phenom would be able to continue pursuing his dream of being a professional tennis player — let alone becoming one of the greatest of all time.
“That was probably the hardest part of my tennis career,” Nadal said in an extensive CNN interview with Christiane Amanpour in Madrid. “Because this was just the beginning.
“In a way, you project your future as a professional tennis player, thinking that you will have at least seven, eight, ten years on the professional circuit. This is what you have trained for practically your entire life.
“And then one second it feels like maybe you can’t keep doing what you love.”
Nadal reflects deeply on this difficult period in a new four-episode Netflix documentary series that provides an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the hardships behind his extraordinary success and famous resilience.
Injuries — — are one of the central narratives of the documentary, starting precisely with that major obstacle at the beginning of his career.
“At 19, you feel everything differently. You’re very young,” he added. “But I was very lucky to have very good people by my side.
“Of course I always maintained hope that things would improve and that I would be able to continue playing, but for a few months the news was not positive.”
Ultimately, Nadal and his medical team found a solution that worked: an innovative insole that moved the foot about 7 millimeters into the shoe. After that, Nike developed a new shoe, custom-made specifically for his foot.
Although it worked, it certainly didn’t mean the end of the physical problems. The foot injury recurred several times.
There were also several problems with his wrists and knees, which caused the Spaniard to miss a total of 18 Grand Slams throughout his career — a number that makes his 22 titles even more impressive.
