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As Rafael Nadal declared his intention to play in the Mexican Open last month, more than a few eyebrows were raised.

After his remarkable triumph in the Australian Open the previous month, the Spanish icon who admitted he feared he was close to retirement due to his ongoing foot problem was expected to take time away from the game to allow his weary body to recover.

At the age of 34 and after not playing matches at a competitive level for several months ahead of his heroics in Australia, his experience should have told him that putting too much strain on his body was a mistake that would cost him dearly.

Yet Nadal collected the huge appearance fee on offer and put himself on the entry list in Mexico, duly beat world No 1 Daniil Medvedev en-route to winning his third tournament of what has been a remarkable 2022 for the 21-time Grand Slam champion.

A week of practice ahead of the Indian Wells ATP 1000 event followed and when news emerged to confirm that Nadal was pulling out of the Miami Open that gets underway this week, it was clear that his body was calling time on his short-term ambitions.

That before Nadal continued his remarkable form to reach the final of the Indian Wells event, sealing some big wins in draining matches in the Californian desert.

Yet by the time he took on Taylor Fritz in Sunday’s final, mother nature had called time on Nadal’s winning form as a mysterious injury affecting him in a match he would lose while