Rafael Nadal hailed for ‘miracle’ year as bid for Calendar Slam resumes at Wimbledon

The Spaniard looks to take a step closer to a Calendar Slam when the Championships begin next week

Rafael Nadal’s 2022 has been described as a “miracle” with the Spaniard set to resume his bid for a Calendar Slam at Wimbledon next week.

The Spaniard’s extraordinary year started with his epic win at the Australian Open, before reaffirming his status as the king of clay with a 14th French Open.

Nadal, now 36 years of age, has battled numerous injuries over the last year, but has now moved two grand slams clear of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer with a record 22 men’s singles titles.

And Alex Corretja believes only Nadal could have pulled off his recent resurgence ahead of his latest grand slam bid at SW19 next week.

“I feel like 2022 for Rafa, it’s a miracle, since the very beginning of the year,” Corretja told Eurosport. “After winning the first tournament, then the first Slam, he then got hurt again and he didn’t have that much time for preparation for Roland-Garros.

“He then ended up winning, and one week later, or two weeks later, I thought, ‘okay, maybe he needs time to rest, he needs time to recover’. Again, now, he is ready to go and try to play at Wimbledon.

“I feel like only Rafa can do that, honestly, because all the ups and downs physically that he had he overcame them. It shows how humble he is, and how much desire he has to keep on going.”

Corretja believes winning the Calendar Slam and immortal status is “not on Nadal’s mind”, with just Wimbledon and the US Open remaining.

Nadal will resume preparation for the Championships back at the Hurlingham Club in the Giorgio Armani Classic, having dispatched Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday in straight sets.

Nadal’s second exhibition of the week against Felix Auger-Aliassime is slated for Friday afternoon.