Tennis player loses her toenails

Should we worry about toenails?

In 2022, I wrote about British hopeful Emma Raducanu as the tennis season progressed. In summer 2025, I updated several articles on nails, damage and thickening. This led to me writing an advice guide for sports and nails.

The Daily Telegraph reported on 14th April (2022) a niggle at a prior event. The revelation of having no toenails might sound cosmetic, but it can be far from a joke. “It’s not just my foot, my shoes; they’ve been sliding around a lot,” says Emma.

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The Guardian and The Daily Mail picked up Emma's story, and by the end of the day, another digital report came out; despite her “latest physical ailment”, she won her latest match against Tereza Martincova in the Billy Jean King Cup singles.

A sigh of relief and, of course, now the suggestion – who needs nails anyway? Of course, days later, we learned that Emma lost the next match to Marketa Vondrousova 6-1,6-1.

Now, you may not be into tennis or another sport, but it all comes down to the same thing. Feet contact with the ground in shoes, and foot problems happen!

Longer toes are more prone to damage.

Do we need nails?

The nail in humans is often considered vestigial—in other words, through generations, it has lost its original function, like the opposable big toe. In the animal world, nails are tools and weapons. Primates rely on nails for some actions, but for humans, it is in the hand that nails retain a high value.

In truth, we can lose all our nails and not suffer. Podiatrists remove diseased nails and can prevent them from returning permanently.

Pressure gives rise to pain, and the end of the toe and nail bed are packed with pressure-sensory nerves for a good reason.

Read Thick Toenails. The Keratin Story

The toe serves as our radar for touch, allowing us to distinguish between hot, cold, deep, and light pressure. So, toes, together with their nails, are packed with sensors that tell us how much we hurt when stubbed. The nails on the hand are tools; when nails are cut too short, we have less effect when picking up objects. Toenails do not serve the same purpose.

The nail is made of protein bonded in three layers and grows from a point below the ‘quick’. The matrix is very sensitive to damage. Fig.1

Fig.1. illustrated the nail matrix - cells responsible for nail growth, which are easily damaged.

Tennis and the Sports Angle

In sports, the foot must fit around the heel snugly. Unlike most people, the foot becomes very warm and can sweat and slip around if not secured in the shoe. The foot presses into the front toe box end, and damage soon arises. 

It should be noted that friction and shear forces come into play, and the skin is also prone to blisters due to excess foot movement. This follows the idea that for ‘every action there is a reaction’  (another Newton's Law of motion), the toe kicks the shoe and the shoe kicks back. Guess who loses?

The natural competitive nature of high-level sports means minor injury can be tolerated until after the competition ceases, when pain escalates, and the damage is done. Podiatry is the only profession that manages nails and their structure as a dedicated speciality.

The Go-to professionals

Distinct from cosmetic pedicure, we focus on tissue preservation, pain, and deformity allied to medical problems. Today, podiatrists are very keen to screen for nail bed cancers, foreign bodies, and bone spurs.

Cancer of the foot - fighting fear

Damaging effects on the feet

Two features arise with the pistoning of the toe.

The toe joint and nail bed are compressed with constant forces. Our body weight exerts greater forces once we stand and move (Newton’s second law of motion). The forces at rest increase with motion (acceleration), and when we move quickly, we come off our heel and go onto the toes for longer. This is true for sprinters, but the toe pressure is still immense for the tennis player as they reach up to serve and then twist and turn, rotating across the ball of the foot.

The nail bed (haematoma)

Fig.2 Nail haematoma second toe in.

The nail is damaged at the edge (Fig.1. hyponychium), and the sensitive connection is broken, causing the nail bed to bleed and lift the nail. If not released urgently, the blood turns black. The blood clot adds to the existing pressure lifting the nail and leads to chronic damage.

Emma’s nails were damaged previously, so the renewed injury worsened matters. The nail may thicken and attract mycotic infection (fungal) in the long term. The colour changes to a darker yellowing because there is no longer a tight connection between the nail bed and the nail plate, but infectious pigments also cause it.

Long-standing effects from toenail damage (a fungal or mycotic infection)

Toe joint deformity

The small toe joint receives a similar insult due to impaction forces and, over time, will scar and may deform into a mallet toe or hammertoe position. If the nail or joint continues to be insulted, its quality will alter and age prematurely. When small toe joints become stiff, they transfer pressure to the skin, forming blisters, calluses, corns, and cysts. Those with such deformities suffer the effects of chilling and chilblains in the long term. 

Fig.3. Foot pistoning? This is where the shoe is slightly too large, causing the foot to move backwards and forwards within the toe box, where damage can arise from impact forces.

Nails undoubtedly carry humour, and why not? We need plenty to laugh at, but there is a downside, and to ignore the nail as harmless in the face of injury is unwise.

We can only hope Emma continues to do well on the circuit. In the meantime, here is some advice for managing these problems: nail care is essential in sports.

If you want to know more about feet, why not check out my book, a lighthearted look at common foot conditions.

You can now read Foot Health Myths, Facts & Fables by David R. Tollafield, published by Amazon Books.

Thanks for reading “Tennis Player Loses Her Toenails” by David R. Tollafield

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