Andrea Piu

Rafael Nadal was diagnosed with Müller-Weiss syndrome at 19 years old. The navicular bone in his left foot was collapsing. There is no cure. The condition is degenerative. It only gets worse. The navicular is the keystone of the human foot. It catches the head of the talus and connects to the first three toes. It absorbs the majority of load when you change direction. In tennis, players change direction hundreds of times per match. On clay, where the surface forces you to slide into every shot, the stress on that bone multiplies. His sport demands exactly the one thing his body could no longer do without pain. He won 22 Grand Slams after the diagnosis. Fourteen of them at Roland Garros, the clay court tournament that punished his foot the hardest. His record there: 112 wins, 4 losses. A 97% win rate across 23 years at the single venue that required the most from the bone that was failing him. For context, the other Grand Slam dominance records: Djokovic at the Australian Open has a 91% win rate. Federer at Wimbledon had 88%. Nadal's 97% at Roland Garros isn't just the best in tennis. There may not be a comparable number in any individual sport at any single venue, ever. He once told reporters he doesn't remember what the feeling of playing without pain is. The condition is most common in women aged 40 to 60. He got it at 19 and kept winning for 19 more years. The Rafa documentary drops May 29. During the French Open. The tournament he won 14 times will be happening without him while 300 million subscribers watch what it actually cost him to own it. He turns 40 on June 3. Netflix timed this so the stadium that was his is full of players trying to fill a void that 97% says might be permanent.

I’ve never understood the Rafa comparisons, his entire play style is influenced by Roger. Besides his insane retrieving he just doesn’t not have the same game style as Nadal…

Rafael Nadal was diagnosed with Müller-Weiss syndrome at 19 years old. The navicular bone in his left foot was collapsing. There is no cure. The condition is degenerative. It only gets worse. The navicular is the keystone of the human foot. It catches the head of the talus and connects to the first three toes. It absorbs the majority of load when you change direction. In tennis, players change direction hundreds of times per match. On clay, where the surface forces you to slide into every shot, the stress on that bone multiplies. His sport demands exactly the one thing his body could no longer do without pain. He won 22 Grand Slams after the diagnosis. Fourteen of them at Roland Garros, the clay court tournament that punished his foot the hardest. His record there: 112 wins, 4 losses. A 97% win rate across 23 years at the single venue that required the most from the bone that was failing him. For context, the other Grand Slam dominance records: Djokovic at the Australian Open has a 91% win rate. Federer at Wimbledon had 88%. Nadal's 97% at Roland Garros isn't just the best in tennis. There may not be a comparable number in any individual sport at any single venue, ever. He once told reporters he doesn't remember what the feeling of playing without pain is. The condition is most common in women aged 40 to 60. He got it at 19 and kept winning for 19 more years. The Rafa documentary drops May 29. During the French Open. The tournament he won 14 times will be happening without him while 300 million subscribers watch what it actually cost him to own it. He turns 40 on June 3. Netflix timed this so the stadium that was his is full of players trying to fill a void that 97% says might be permanent.

JANNIK IN FINALE A MONTE-CARLO PER LA PRIMA VOLTA IN CARRIERA! ❤️‍🔥 L'azzurro batte Sascha Zverev per l'ottava volta conscutiva, conquistando la 21ª vittoria di fila nei Masters 1000 e la 12ª finale in carriera sempre a livello 1000. 16ª vittoria nelle ultime 17 partite disputate contro giocatori in top 10 per Sinner, che domani sfiderà uno tra Carlos Alcaraz e Valentin Vacherot per il titolo

📸 - CALAFIORI WAS ABSOLUTELY COOKED BEFORE SOUTHAMPTON'S 2ND GOAL!