MAPFRE Clinic focused on tennis 'necessity' says Rafael Nadal after inaugurating center in Madrid

Rafael Nadal inaugurated the MAPFRE Clinic for Tennis Medicine in Madrid and the World No.1 claims a clinic focused on sports and tennis in the Spanish capital club was a "necessity".

Dr Angel Ruiz-Cotorro is the director of MAPFRE Clinic for Tennis Medicine and the clinic in Madrid is the second center specialised in tennis after the first was opened in Barcelona in 2009.

Ruiz-Cotorro has been in the field since the 1980s and closely worked with professional tennis players like Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, Sergi Bruguera, Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero and now with Garbiñe Muguruza and Nadal.

According to the Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo, the second center in Madrid will have sports traumatology unit, diagnostic imaging, sports cardiology, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, functional biomechanics and chiropody, nutrition and sports rehabilitation.

Nadal said he was delighted after opening the MAPFRE Clinic for Tennis Medicine in Madrid. "I think it was a necessity that in Madrid there was a clinic focused on sports and tennis. Angel and his team are passionate and have plenty of experience to treat people in the best possible way," Nadal explained, as quoted by Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.

"We have seen more of each other than I would have liked in difficult situations," he said, referring to his injuries throughout his career.

Ruiz-Cotorro has been his chief doctor for years, who recently spoke about how changes in the sport have resulted in athletes suffering from more injuries than in the past.

"There have been many changes in this sport (racquet material, surfaces, speed of the game, training systems) and that price is being paid by players in the form of injuries," Ruiz-Cotorro stressed.

Nadal last featured in the quarter-final clash of the 2018 Australian Open against Marin Cilic, where he was forced to withdraw with a hip injury. He has now set his sights on returning for the 2018 Mexican Open that will kick-start on 26 February.