Rafael Nadal Won 22 Grand Slams While Playing in Pain

Rafael Nadal won 22 Grand Slam titles and became one of tennis's greatest champions while living with constant, debilitating pain. The Spanish legend just opened up about the extraordinary lengths he went to keep playing the sport he loved.

In 2005, a teenage Nadal burst onto the world stage by winning the French Open and beating Roger Federer on his 19th birthday. But that same year, he broke his left foot and was diagnosed with Mueller-Weiss syndrome, a rare condition that causes bones to deteriorate.

Doctors feared he might never play again. Instead, Nadal used special insoles and became one of the Big Three alongside Federer and Djokovic, dominating tennis for nearly two decades.

The cost was steep. Nadal played every match not knowing if it would be his last.

"Tennis became a race against time," he said in the new Netflix series. "I always had the doubt in my head of how long can I last with this foot?"

The insoles that saved his career threw his body out of alignment. By 2012, his left knee tendon had a hole in it. He used so many anti-inflammatory drugs that they caused small perforations in his intestines.

At the 2022 French Open, his final Grand Slam victory, the pain was so severe that doctors numbed his foot completely with anaesthetic injections. He couldn't feel his foot at all and still won his record 14th Roland Garros title.

Tennis great John McEnroe was stunned. "He doesn't feel his foot, and he's winning this?" he said. "What are you going to tell me next? He's going to play blindfolded, and he's going to win it, too?"

Why This Inspires

Nadal's story isn't about ignoring your health or pushing through pain at any cost. It's about knowing yourself deeply enough to make difficult choices aligned with your passion.

When asked about taking risks with his health, Nadal was clear eyed. "If I hadn't explored all that, I probably would have had 10 fewer Grand Slams," he said. Without those choices, he estimates he might have won just 10 or 12 titles instead of 22.

The pressure eventually took a mental toll too. At one point, Nadal experienced such severe anxiety that he couldn't swallow without holding a water bottle. He sought help from a psychiatrist and eventually added coach Carlos Moya to his team to create a healthier environment.

Those changes brought him more freedom. Between 2017 and his retirement in 2024, Nadal won eight more Grand Slams.

His secret? "The suffering was less than my passion and my happiness for what I was doing," he explained.