Rafael Nadal: 'My intention is to play Wimbledon'

Rafael Nadal is planning to make an attempt at extending his record of 22 Grand Slam titles later this month at an event he hasn't played in three years.

The 2022 Wimbledon tournament is slated to begin on June 27 and Nadal announced on Friday that he intends to compete. The Spainard hasn't taken part in Wimbledon since 2019, after the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and he sat out last year due to injury.

"The 36-year-old has Mueller-Weiss syndrome, which causes chronic pain in his foot. The world No. 4 said at Roland Garros that he had been undergoing frequent injections into a nerve to numb the pain but was set to visit a specialist to undergo a fresh procedure — a radiofrequency nerve ablation — and would not play at Wimbledon if it was not successful" an ESPN report said. 

Despite his foot issue, Nadal is hopeful he will be able to compete in London:

"'(The medical treatment) done in Barcelona is not a 100% immediate thing, but changes are noticeable,' Nadal said. 'I have noticed them, strange sensations, my joint pain has decreased. ... My intention is to play Wimbledon, to travel to London on Monday."

"My foot situation must be evaluated day after day, so at this moment, I don't have this certainty of being able to play. I just know that I want to play the tournament, but we must also be careful.

"In the first days I had complicated feelings, day after day I got better. One more week of training in London and I hope to be able to play at Wimbledon and to be competitive to do so."

Nadal's last Wimbledon run in 2019 ended in the semifinals at the hands of Roger Federer. He is a two-time singles champion at the All England Club, with the victories coming in 2008 and 2010.

The lefty has already won both the Australian Open and French Open in 2022. Nadal's only calendar year in which he had three Grand Slam victories was 2010, when he captured first place at the French Open, U.S. Open and Wimbledon.