Rafael Nadal continued his dominance at the Roland Garros by recently winning his 14th French Open title, in Paris. Facing the 23-year-old Casper Ruud on clay court, Nadal outplayed his opposition by winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0. 

After the summit clash, Nadal dwelled on his foot injury and revealed that he was taking special anesthetic injections to deal with the pain, that led to him going past the whole tournament. Following his confession, it has led to many questioning and criticising him in the sporting fraternity. 

French cyclist Guillaume Martin raised questions, claiming that this would have led to serious consequences in Cycling. “If a cyclist does the same thing, it’s already forbidden. But even if it weren’t, everyone would call him doped because there is such a cultural background, such connotations attached to the bike. While people praise Nadal for being able to go this far in pain. I believe that Zlatan Ibrahimovic also spoke about his knee injections," Martin told L'Equipe.

“Tennis, for example, has quite similar parameters with cycling, it’s an endurance sport with accelerations, so I think the same products can have a doping effect," he added.

Thus, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief General Olivier Niggli has reacted to all the questions being raised and played down the criticism. "If a product is on the list of prohibited products, it means that it has an effect on performance, that it is bad for health, and that it is contrary to the ethics of sport. Anesthetic injections are not prohibited. It's not an oversight. The question arose. It was discussed. They are not on the list because they do not improve performance and are fundamentally not bad," Niggli told Switzerland TV Channel RTS.

"Is it a good medical practice? Is it acceptable for an elite athlete to get injections before a match? It's a debate between doctors and a debate about medical ethics. Rafael Nadal has won 14 titles at Roland Garros. If he has won thirteen others without injections, it is probably not due to injections that he has won the 14th," he signed off.

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