The reason why Rafael Nadal is having trouble with knees is clear to one of his top rivals, Novak Djokovic. Nadal will play his first match on hard courts in nearly a year when he takes on Ryan Harrison at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday night. He has been practicing sparingly this week in order to save wear and tear on his knees.
“I have been his colleague and rival for last seven, eight years, and I have been watching him and playing against him on different surfaces,” Djokovic said. “I understand what he has to go through to play in such style, of the game that he possesses, because he’s very physical and it’s very demanding for him. He loves to slide. He loves to run around the court and do a lot of dynamic strong movements that eventually can hurt him, as they did in the last seven months.”