Rafael Nadal, who has lost his French Open and Wimbledon titles, as well as his world No. 1 spot, in a summer of injury misery, said on Tuesday he plans to return at the Montreal Masters next month.
“I am really looking forward to practice again and to do what I most like: to play tennis,” he said in a statement posted on his official web site after undergoing medical tests in Barcelona.
“The event in Montreal [where he is defending champion] is important and I expect to be there and fit to play. Until then I need to continue to work on my recovery and practice well,” Nadal said.
TENDINITIS
The Spaniard has been suffering from tendinitis in both knees and has not played since being upset by Robin Soderling in the fourth round at the French Open in May.
It was his first defeat at Roland Garros where he had been the four-time champion. The injury forced him to pull out of Wimbledon, where he was also defending champion, two days before the start of the tournament.
During his absence, Roger Federer won both the French Open and Wimbledon and regained the No. 1 ranking held by the Spaniard.
Nadal, who was also forced to miss his country’s Davis Cup quarter-final win over Germany last weekend, will resume training on Monday ahead of the Montreal Masters which starts on Aug. 8.
‘POSITIVE’
“The evolution of his injury is positive and the player will continue with his physiotherapy and muscular work and will resume his tennis activity in a progressive way starting next Monday, estimating his return to competition on Aug. 8th at Montreal,” said his doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro.
The Mallorcan’s great rival Federer, who clinched a record 15th Grand Slam title when he regained the Wimbledon title, has insisted that his achievements have not been diminished by the injury-enforced absence of Nadal.
The Swiss ace has a 7-13 career record against the 23-year-old Spaniard.
“I would have loved to play Rafa again. You never know how he would have played, but it’s sad he couldn’t even give it a fair chance,” the 27-year-old Federer, said.
“I’m happy at least that I became No. 1 in the world by winning the tournament, not just by him not playing at all, or me playing decent or someone else playing decent and getting to No. 1. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be,” he said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB