"Rafael Nadal would be like 'And this, and this, and this'" - Daria Kasatkina teases Spaniard about injury-hit body

Daria Kasatkina recently poked fun at Rafael Nadal during a fun Q&A session with Leylah Fernandez in the latest episode of "What The Vlog" - a YouTube series run by the Russian and her girlfriend, Natalia Zabiiako. The World No. 12 remarked that the 22-time Major winner, who suffered several serious injuries during his career, would likely want many of his body parts replaced.

Nadal retired from pro tennis last November after Spain crashed out of the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. As much as he would've desired, the Spaniard couldn't prolong his illustrious career after undergoing arthroscopic hip surgery in 2023.

Against that background, Kasatkina posed an interesting question to her fellow WTA pro Fernandez during her vlog series before jokingly alluding to the 38-year-old's history of injuries.

"If you could choose any part of your body to change but not aesthetically, for example, something hurt," Daria Kasatkina asked Leylah Fernandez on the latest episode of her vlog. [22:47]

While Fernandez responded that she would like her right foot to mend, Kasatkina was satisfied with her current physical condition. However, the 27-year-old tongue-in-cheek claimed that had Nadal been present, his options would've been all across the board. The Russian's comments were harmless, though, as the 22-time Major winner is her favorite tennis player.

"Me? I was actually thinking about it and thankfully, I can't name something particular. So, yeah. Can't complain. We can ask Rafa, like he would be like, 'And this, and this, and this, and this, and also this,'" Kasatkina joked during the vlog [23:18].

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Rafael Nadal: "A lot of moments in my life that I wasn't ale to play tennis because of injuries"

The 14-time French Open champion won his last title in Paris in 2022 (Source: Getty)

Ahead of his final pro tennis appearance at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, Rafael Nadal looked back on his career. The 22-time Major winner talked about dealing with injuries and whether it would affect his life outside tennis.

"I mean, I am not worried about the next chapter in my life. I have been always happy without tennis, and I had a lot of moments in my life that I was not able to play tennis because of injuries," Rafael Nadal told the media in Malaga last November. "So I spent a lot of months doing other things. Is true that during recovery so now is a different approach."

Although Nadal won a laundry list of big titles despite his injuries, he was sidelined from the ATP Tour many times during his career. The Spaniard had run-ins with recurring knee tendinitis in 2009 and 2012. The former World No. 1 also injured his wrist in 2016, leading to his second French Open withdrawal.

He had previously sat out the 2004 edition of the tournament due to a stress fracture in his left ankle, which was attributed to him suffering from Mueller-Weiss syndrome in his left foot.