Rafael Nadal's epic comeback has been the most captivating story in tennis this year. His victories at the French and US Open championships and his ascension back to his throne as the top men's singles tennis player in the world were nothing short of spectacular.
How did he do it? By getting a healthy dose of platelet-rich plasma in his ailing knees.
For the first time since Nadal return from a seven-month injury layoff, his team finally disclosed the secret to his fast recovery. In a report by the Daily Mail, Nadal's team confirmed that the current world's best tennis player indeed underwent Plasma Rich Platelet therapy, which was first used in sports-related injury five years ago.
Also known as the blood-spinning procedure, the treatment required to take a small amount of blood from the patient and put the vial of blood in a centrifuge, where it separated plasma-rich cells containing growth factors to speed up regeneration. The plasma-rich substance will be re-injected into the injured areas.
Nadal joined NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, world's No.1 golfer Tiger Woods, and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year winner Troy Polamalu on a roster of elite athletes that underwent PRP therapy.
A formerly banned procedure before it was legalized by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2010, the Plasma Rich Platelet therapy is under scrutiny once again following reports of its effect on the performance of athletes.
With the future of PRP therapy seems in jeopardy, it would be interesting how the strict policy on this procedure won't affect great but injury-prone athletes like Nadal.