After being knocked out of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, Rafael Nadal tells reporters that he plans to play out the season before having surgery to remove his appendix.
Shanghai: Djokovic Wins 27th Straight in China
“Yes, I need to do the surgery,” Nadal said. “I talked with the doctor in Spain. Is a lot of risk when that happens one time. Even if now is under control, is obvious going to come back. I don't want to come back, to have the same thing when I am in Australia, when I am in Indian Wells or Miami or when I am in Roland Garros. So I going to do it before the end of the year.”
Nadal was diagnosed with early stage appendicitis after visiting doctors on Sunday. After an aggressive antibiotic treatment, some of which was administered intravenously, Nadal played in Shanghai, dropping a second-round decision to compatriot Feliciano Lopez.
Nadal said he was relieved to come away from the match unscathed, as he’d experienced problems with his muscles after undergoing antibiotic treatments in the past.
“For sure is not the best situation,” he said. “The thing that I was more worried about play the match is I had some injuries in my career, but strains in the muscle I only had three times, and two of them was after the process of antibiotics. These ones were more aggressive, so I am happy at the end that I didn't have nothing worse after the match.”
Though Nadal believes he can make it to London without having to pull the plug on his season prematurely, he admits that the next week or so will be crucial to his final decision on the matter.
“My feeling today, and my answer today honestly is I going to do it after the World Tour Finals,” he said. “You never know. Depends how the things improve. I want to do it at the end of the year, not now.”
Update Nadal is already back in Spain and has visited with his doctors there:
Photo Source: AP