Watch: Rafael Nadal admits giving up on chocolates was difficult, but explains why he had no other choice 

Winning 20 Grand Slam titles comes with sacrifices, and Rafael Nadal has had to learn that the hard way. The Spaniard has dealt with his fair share of injuries over the years, but his resilience is untainted. Nadal is known for coming back stronger and his performances at the 2022 Australian Open so far are a testament to that.

In an interview with Eurosport's Alize Lim, Mats Wilander and Johanna Konta, the King of Clay opened up about recovering from his chronic foot injury. But he managed to keep the conversation light-hearted by speaking about his love for chocolate and golf.

Nadal has previously admitted that he has no self-control around chocolate, but he explained it was crucial to stay away from it to recover effectively from his injury.

"The chocolate for the last couple of months was over," the Spaniard said jokingly. "I changed a couple of things in my diet. After all the things I went through with my foot I just tried to lose some weight and to work the proper way to be ready for the season," he added.

Speaking about his performance in the second-round match against Yannick Hanfmann, the Spaniard revealed how good performances in big matches like these help to regain confidence after a long break. However, he admitted that his game is still not at its full potential, and he needs to build up quickly to survive in the tournament from here onwards.

"Matches help and I need it. Today was a tough one. He [Hanfmann] was playing well and that’s a positive thing for me. I hope to be ready for the next one. Today was a victory. After today I’m going to have a tough match so I need to play better than today," he added.

"Golf helps me feel like I am competing when I am not able to play on the tour" - Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Australian Open: Day 5

Rafael Nadal has dominated the tennis circuit for the last two decades. It is therefore understandable why it might be challenging for a fierce competitor like him to be away from the tour for so long. He explained how participating in a pre-season golf tournament helped to calm his nerves when he was craving some competition.

“I love the competition in general,” he added. “I have always been a multi-sport guy. I like to practise different sports. Unfortunately the last few years I have not been able to play football anymore, even different kinds of sports. Golf helps because it’s not crazy, not dangerous, spend time with the people I like and in some ways I feel I am competing when I am not able to play on the tour.”

After his dominating victory in the second-round against Hanfmann, the 35-year-old managed to pull off another brilliant performance against Karen Khachanov, defeating him 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. This led to Nadal extending his streak of reaching the second week of every Grand Slam he's played in since 2017.