Nadal fears as surgery looms ahead of Swiss Indoors tournament

Sport360 staff 06:28 20/10/2014
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  • Scared to step on court: Nadal.

    Rafael Nadal admitted yester­day he’s feeling “scared” over his first appearance in a decade at the Swiss Indoors tournament with the shadow of unavoidable appen­dix surgery hovering over the great Spaniard.

    Nadal, who last played in Basel in 2004 and stands 0-2 in the home­town of top seed and longtime rival Roger Federer, starts the tourna­ment today against a qualifier.

    The 28-year-old, nine-time French Open champion has been on a regime of antibiotics which will hopefully help him postpone the appendectomy surgery for a few more weeks.

    “It’s going to be one of the most dangerous first rounds in a 500 tournament that I’ve played in a long time,” admitted Nadal after a two-hour hit at the St Jakobshalle yesterday.

    “I am not 100 per cent sure what is going to happen tomorrow. I haven’t practised well enough or enough times. My body feels more tired than usual when I’m playing.

    “Practising is one thing, compet­ing is another. When you compete you have the adrenaline, the heart goes faster, and I don’t know how my body is going to answer.

    “I’m a little bit scared about how my body is going to react. Some of my injuries have been after antibi­otic treatments.

    “Hopefully that won’t be the case this time.”

    Nadal has been told by doctors that he is safe to play despite the appendix problem which flared during the recent Asian ATP swing.

    It is a problem which marks just another in a string of career set­backs for the world number three.

    But Nadal remains optimistic, even if he may believe his trophy chances are slim at an event where Federer has won the title five times.

    “This week will help to improve my indoor game. I haven’t played during this week in the past years, so that’s a plus,” suggested Nadal. “It will be a tough comeback but I try to stay positive.

    “Injuries are part of sports and a big part of my career. I take it day by day. I don’t know whether I will be able to play on top when I’m 33 (as Federer is doing).

    “I’m just thinking about tomor­row,” he added.

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