Rafael Nadal has revealed he spent most of his career in pain as he willed himself to play through a chronic foot injury and went on to win 22 grand slam titles while spending two decades ruling men\u2019s tennis alongside Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard, who retired in 2024<\/a>, said he took immense risks with his health to keep his career going, after a Netflix series called Rafa provided an in-depth look into his physical and mental struggles to pursue greatness.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had to make decisions about my health, where you are on the borderline between right or wrong. But if I hadn\u2019t explored all that, I probably would have had 10 fewer grand slams \u2026 this is the reality,\u201d Nadal told the BBC<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n Nadal was diagnosed with a rare condition called Mueller-Weiss syndrome after he broke a foot during the Madrid Open final of 2005, months after he won the French Open on his first attempt aged 19.<\/p>\n Although the condition, which may have been caused by his extensive training as a child, put his career at risk, Nadal refused to give up.<\/p>\n The injury haunted him even as he won 13 more grand slams in the next nine years, clinching at least one major every year. \u201cTennis became a race against time. Always having the doubt in my head of: \u2018How long can I last with this foot?\u2019 I never knew how long my career would last,\u201d Nadal said. \u201cI always thought: \u2018Maybe it\u2019s the last year, so there\u2019s no time to stop.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The injury also led to other health complications, including tendinitis in his left knee and perforations in his intestines, the latter caused by the use of painkillers.<\/p>\n