Rafael Nadal doubtful for ATP World Tour Finals: ‘It’s not worth the risk’ - doctor
RAFAEL NADAL’S doctor has suggested playing at the ATP World Tour Finals is not worth the risk if the world No1 is not fully fit.
Rafael Nadal announces retirement from Paris Masters
Problems with his knee have hampered Nadal over the last few years and the Spaniard was forced to withdraw from last week’s Paris Masters ahead of his quarter-final match against Filip Krajinovic due to discomfort.
Nadal now faces a race against time to get fit for the Finals which start on Sunday.
The 31-year-old had called for calm about his chances of playing in the season-ending event.
But Nadal family doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro told Spanish outlet El Larguero the tennis great needs to be realistic.
Rafael Nadal is uncertain to play at the ATP World Tour Finals
It is a risk that is not worth running
He said: "You always have to be optimistic, but also realistic, you have to see that we are at the end of the year, after an extraordinary season.
“Now he suffers some small discomforts within a pathology that we already know, in a tendon in which he has already had ailments in other occasions, and we will try to do everything possible so that he can be in good condition, because he wants to be, is the only tournament he's missing.”
Nadal has played 77 matches this season and Cotorro says the high number could be the cause.
Rafael Nadal played with strapping on his knee at the Paris Masters
He added: “As everyone knows, to be number 1 you have to win many games, and that cluster of matches can be annoying at any moment.”
Then Cotorro warned that unless Nadal’s tendon is fully healed, he is taking an unnecessary risk.
He said: “If the tendon is holding the loads in a progressive way, you will be in a position to play, if you can not stand it, it is a risk that is not worth running.”