Tennis pro Angelique Kerber would, if need be, like Spain’s star Rafael Nadal, also get injected to get fit for success.
“If it was a Wimbledon final, I would probably do it too,” said the three-time Grand Slam tournament winner in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. Nadal had his foot anaesthetised several times for a fortnight in order to win the French Open for the 14th time.
Record Grand Slam winner Nadal has been suffering from Müller-Weiss syndrome, a rare and degenerative disease, for several years. According to the 36-year-old, he had injections for the condition before each of his seven matches in Paris. He also took anti-inflammatory drugs throughout the tournament.
“So much fighting spirit and discipline “
“It’s crazy how his body can take it all and that he managed to win the tournament again. There must be so much fighting spirit and discipline in him. I have the greatest respect for Rafa, he deserves what he has achieved like no other,” said Kerber. If you want to be successful, you have to go beyond limits, she said. “It doesn’t always have to be pain. It’s the same in training, when you go to the limit and beyond to get better.”
The 34-year-old wants to play as long as she is fit, has passion and “I feel what I would be missing. That’s when I listen to my gut. If I don’t feel the fire anymore, I will make the decision on my own.”
But at 40 like US superstar Serena Williams, who is set to make her comeback at Wimbledon, she will no longer be active. “I’m excited to see her again. To see how fit she is, how she has been training. After such a long time, you actually need match practice to get back into it. But Serena, who has achieved so much, maybe she doesn’t need so much time to play at a high level again,” said Kerber, who triumphed in the 2018 final against Williams at Wimbledon. She returns to the tennis tour a year after her last match. The 23-time Grand Slam winner will receive a wild card for the grass-court classic in London.
