Serena Williams' former hitting partner explains why Rafael Nadal was forced to lose muscle to protect his knees

Tennis legend Serena Williams' former hitting partner Sascha Bajin recently explained why Rafael Nadal was forced to lose muscle in his early days to protect his knees.

Nadal had a physique that anybody would have envied during the first three years of his career, but sadly, his Hercules-like appearance didn't last for very long. The Spaniard had to tone down his muscles to protect his knees as advised by his team of doctors because he had been dealing with a persistent foot issue for years.

In view of that, tennis coach and former player Sascha Bajin took to Twitter to explain the Spaniard's muscle loss, claiming that every "unnecessary" kilogram one has to carry is multiplied when sliding on hard courts, causing the knees to absorb the majority of the impact. The muscles in the upper body, Bajin continued, are particularly "unnecessary" for tennis.

"Guys it's simple. Muscle mass is weight. Every unnecessary kg you have to carry extra with you is multiplied when sliding into a ball on hard court. Your knees (joints) in general are absorbing most of the impact. Specially muscle on the upper body is unnecessary for tennis," Bajin wrote.

The German went on to say that, in his opinion, having a huge bicep is not very useful for playing tennis and that having more muscle and weight can slow a player down and make them more "tired."

"A huge bicep for for example is not really tennis specific for me. And the guys play 5 sets at slams and you know getting ankle weights with just 1lbs on each leg make a huge difference. So this can def weigh you down and make you slower and more tired," Bajin wrote.

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Rafael Nadal withdraws from Las Vegas exhibition match against Carlos Alcaraz

Rafael Nadal pictured at the 2023 Australian Open - Day 3.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from an exhibition match in Las Vegas, indicating a possible late withdrawal from Indian Wells as well. He was scheduled to compete in the MGM Rewards 'The SLAM' presented by Chase Sapphire, set to take place on Sunday, March 5, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, alongside Carlos Alcaraz.

On Friday, February 17, the event announced Nadal's withdrawal and added two new players to the lineup: Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe. The Spaniard's withdrawal from the match did not come as a surprise, given that he withdrew from the Dubai Tennis Championships and Qatar Open due to a hip injury sustained during his Australian Open second-round loss against Mackenzie McDonald.