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A curious revelation by Rafael Nadal

July 3, 2020

Written By,

Rui Sousa

The 2008 Wimbledon final is considered one of the best tennis matches ever played. Roger Federer came from a series of five consecutive wins on the All England Club grass, but a super Nadal would avenge the two consecutive final defeats to the Swiss maestro in previous years.

More than 12 years later, and in a period when the Londoner tournament should be going on, some side stories about that epic match are still being known. Just to remember, this exciting encounter stretched over five sets, with the last one ending in a spectacular 9-7 favorable to Nadal after 4h48.

The most recent revelation came from Nadal himself, who in an interview with Movistar guaranteed that he was forced to play injured from the first minute of the match due to problems with his left foot.

I never told this, but I had to play with anesthesia on my left foot from the first minute. In fact, it was not only in the final but in the previous matches as well. The game stops complicated the situation because the effect don’t last long and I couldn’t play without anesthesia. I didn’t train and I was nervous because I didn’t know how long the effect was going to last.

Rafael Nadal

Federer prayed to “stay alive”

It was not only on the Spaniard that revealed something more about that day. In a recent interview, Roger Federer was invited to talk about the emotions of this epic meeting.

“I thought to myself: please don’t miss it! Don´t fail! Go to the fifth set and try to keep yourself alive. You could end up winning the game.”

Roger Federer

The Swiss star ended up falling in the fifth set, but he still has the best memories from the game. “For me it was also a proud moment, as I had just been a protagonist in one of the historic tennis matches.”

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Written By,

Rui Sousa

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