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Nadal may hit peak fitness at US Open
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-26 11:31 MADRID - Rafael Nadal's recovery from tendinitis in both knees appears to be progressing so well that he could be back at peak fitness for the U.S. Open, according to a sports injury specialist at the University of California.
The Spanish world number three said in June he had been playing with pain in his knees for nine months and was out for 10 weeks before making his return at this month's Montreal Masters. He fell in the last eight to Juan Martin del Potro but went one round better at the Cincinnati Masters, losing on Saturday in the semi-finals to Novak Djokovic. The pain had gone and he said the result was even better than he hoped for going into the final grand slam of 2009 starting on Aug. 31, the only one to elude him. "Nadal is a younger player so he certainly has a bigger capacity to heal," said Anthony Luke, an associate professor and director in Primary Care Sports Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. "He's definitely competitive which is a great sign," he added. "I do think he has a chance to be at his peak at the U.S. Open and his rhythm and performance should continue to improve as long as the knee doesn't give any setbacks." Luke said Nadal's specific knee problems were particularly common among tennis players because of the amount of stopping and starting and also afflicted basketball players and other jumping athletes. Nadal's physical style of play, which relies on power and athleticism in contrast to his more graceful rival Roger Federer, puts him more at risk, Luke added. PURE POWER "Rafael Nadal is pure power and plays the game at 100 percent intensity so each match he is putting so much more pressure on his tendons," Luke said. "In his favour are his athleticism and his conditioning, which are outstanding. If anyone can come back from something like this it's a guy like Nadal. "He's obviously very motivated and disciplined with his training and this will help in the healing process." In very serious cases, surgery would be attempted to strip away scar tissue on the tendon, but Nadal's reasonably rapid recovery without the need to go under the knife suggested his problems were not especially serious, Luke said. "You wouldn't want to resort to surgery early on because you would be traumatising the tendon," he said. "If he can recover without it's much better and indicates his injury is less serious." The best-of-five sets matches at the U.S. Open will present an additional challenge to Nadal's recovery and he remained cautious after the Cincinnati event. "We will see how I am physically to play the five set matches," he said. "I know when I am playing well I can play at this level. But you only can win against these top players when you are playing your best tennis." |
