RAFAEL Nadal said he cannot keep playing if he has to keep having his troublesome foot numbed, admitting “I can’t keep going like this, but I am working to find a solution”.

The Spaniard captured a 14th French Open and 22nd Grand Slam title with a straight-sets win over Casper Ruud at Roland Garros, but said his future in the sport remains in doubt.

“It is obvious that with circumstances that I am playing, I cannot and I do not want to keep going, so the mindset is very clear.

“I am going to keep working to find a solution and an improvement for what is happening (to my) foot.”

Nadal, 36, revealed that he needs pain-killing injections in his left foot before every match and will undergo treatment again in Spain this week.

“If it works, I keep going. If not, it will be another story and I will ask myself if I am ready to do a major surgery, which may not guarantee I will be competitive and may take a long time to be back.”

Taking anaesthetic injections in the nerves in his foot is the only way he could have got through the tournament, he added.

Now, Nadal and his medical team will employ a technique that will burn the nerve using what he describes as “radio frequency injections” to “sleep the two nerves”.

The tennis player said he intends to play Wimbledon, where he is a two-time champion and gets underway in three weeks’ time.

“I am going to be in Wimbledon if my body is ready to be in Wimbledon. It is not a tournament that I want to miss.

“I love Wimbledon. If you ask me whether I will be in Wimbledon, I cannot give you a clear answer. Let us see how the treatment works.”

If the treatment works and he can survive with anti-inflammatories and not anaesthetic, Nadal will be at the All England Club having sat out the tournament last year.

“If I am able to play with anti-inflammatories, yes; to play with anaesthetic injections, no.

“I do not want to put myself in that position again.” – AFP, June 6, 2022.