Nadal Out With Knee Injury

On Friday, it was announced that Rafael Nadal would be out for about a month to rehabilitate his right knee:

Nadal said it was not the recurrence of the tendinitis that sidelined the six-time Grand Slam singles champion for periods of 2009. He was unable to defend his Wimbledon title last year because of the tendinitis and has not reached another Grand Slam final since his five-set win over Roger Federer at last year's Australian Open.

MRI and ultrasound tests showed a small tear at the back part of Nadal's right knee, which can be treated with physiotherapy and anti-inflammatory treatment, Dr. Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said in the statement.

This is another blow to the Spanish champion’s prospects. At the pinnacle of his career, he lost in the round of 16 at the French Open and snapped his four-straight title streak. It was then discovered that Nadal has severe tendinitis and would not defend his title at Wimbledon.

Since his return last August, Nadal has been looking to get back to top form. He looked good at his Davis Cup match in December. The Majorcan looked pretty good for most of the Australian Open. He was beginning to get his feel back, but we are now back to this.

This is especially unfortunate because Nadal is the type of player that has to practice a lot and play a lot of matches to get the feel of his shots. His crazy shotmaking ability that we have come to take for granted comes from hours of practice and play. That is why he is the best at defense-to-offense because he works hard at it.

The one player who can make the grand slams interesting has been wracked with injuries over the last six months. Hopefully, this is just a short-term problem, and the Spanish champ can get back on track before this year becomes a giant snoozefest.