The US Open tennis, external is winding to a climax at Flushing Meadows in New York at the moment, and last weekend it threw up one of those moments where you can’t quite believe what you’re seeing.
Rafael Nadal was sitting there holding a live news conference, and suddenly he started grimacing and slowly disappeared under the table.
You can be sure that’s going to turn up in plenty of end-of-year review shows. Not to mention Question of Sport in the future as well.
There’s been quite a bit about it in the media the past couple of days, with doctors and medical experts giving their opinions on dealing with cramp.
It’s not something I’ve experienced but I can relate to feeling a bit rough in news conferences as sometimes after a race we can do 90 minutes of solid press work and all you really want to do is to get out of your race suit and unwind. I haven’t fallen off my chair yet, though.
As a professional sportsperson, you prepare as best you can for each event, taking into account location of the event, time zone, jet lag, and maybe dietery challenges depending on where you might be in the world (we’ve got all that to come once Monza is over). All this is constantly evolving and improving with experience.
I am 100 times more prepared than I was in my early 20s in terms of knowing what I need.
In particular, I have had some bad experiences with hydration – or rather the lack of it. In my case, it was when my preparation was completely naïve.
I had a heavy crash towards the end of the Monaco Formula 3000 race in 2000 due to me thinking I could complete a race around the streets without a drinks bottle and no pre-race hydration strategy.
I went to see some specialists and tests proved that my fitness levels were more than up to the job but they put me on a completely new track as to when and what type of fluids I need when the body is subjected to certain demands.
Touch wood, I haven’t had a problem again to this day.
Mark Webber was talking to BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson. Read his exclusive column every Thursday
