Rafael Nadal, who looks unbeatable, wins his 14th French Open title

“I don’t know what could happen in the future, but I will continue to struggle to try to keep going,” he said as 15,000 people rallied from the sale, well aware of the speculation, and agreed to agree. But there are no guarantees, as Nadal later clarified in a press conference where he made it clear that he does not intend to continue playing tournaments with regular analgesics injections or foot numbing.

“Everyone knows how important this tournament is to me,” he said. “That was the only way to give myself a chance here, right? So I did it. And I couldn’t be happier and couldn’t thank my doctor enough for all the things he has done during all my tennis career, helping me through every difficult moment. But from Obviously I can’t compete with a sleepy foot.”

In search of a long-term solution, Nadal said he will undergo a surgery later this week known as radiofrequency ablation, in which radio waves will be sent through a hollow needle inserted into the nerves in his left foot that is causing him constant pain. . If the procedure is successful, which is uncertain, the heat from the radio waves may prevent the nerves from sending pain signals to Nadal’s brain.

“If that works, I’ll go on; if that doesn’t work, it’s another story,” said Nadal, who has ruled out taking more painkilling injections to play Wimbledon, which begins in three weeks.

Nadal said that if treatment is ineffective, he will have to ask himself tough questions about his future in the game and whether he wants to risk foot surgery, which he has been told could affect his mobility “to be competitive again” and could” It takes a long time to recover from it.

“So let’s do it step by step, as I’ve done all my tennis career,” he said of the decision-making process, refusing to rule out playing at Wimbledon.

He certainly looked ready for more tennis against Rudd, gaining speed and accuracy as the match progressed. Nadal was not at his best early on and was sometimes far from good, losing serve in the third game with two double faults and an unintentional forehand fault in the middle of the net. But Rudd was also struggling to find his way, looking edgy and restricted to pivot points in the opening set and then outselling pivot points in the later stages after working through his nerves.