Rafael Nadal had been a refugee in Manacor for eight months when he played his last match – in Australia, against Mackenzie McDonald – and suffered a serious iliopsoas injury that forced him to undergo surgery later in June. Rafael Nadal has recently been dropped off by Pedreña, Cantabria, the country of Seve, after his death in Madrid. In both scenarios, the tennis player shared a few holes with his friend Pau Gasol. “Fortunately I have been able to play golf for a few weeks and at least it is the only thing in which I can compete… It distracts me and it is necessary,” consoles the Mallorcan, who in the absence of clubs kills the error in the club. And that, as he says in an interview with Movistar+, he is developing positively from his recent physical mishap. Nadal says things are going well, but he’s by no means throwing bells in the air. As always, your body will decide. He barely watched any tennis – “the finals of the US Open and Wimbledon” – and he didn’t miss the adrenaline of competition because he just couldn’t do it.
“After not making it to Roland Garros, I had to make a statement to make sure I would recover well. That’s why I decided to have an operation. The first few months were complicated, but then I was able to switch off and be with the family. I could barely pay attention to my phone or TV; I follow the news, but that’s it. I had to disconnect from everything a little. I turn the page quickly. I watch the US Open and my stomach doesn’t hurt. I am not one of those who thinks: “I should be there.” “I am at peace and I live things in a natural way,” presents the Spaniard in the meeting with the journalist Juanma Castaño, this Monday on the platform was transferred. “The operation seems to have gone well,” says the 36-year-old athlete. “And now I live with pain, but in control. It doesn’t make my life bitter. “My character only changes when I am in more pain than necessary.”
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Four months ago, Nadal gave a press conference at his academy where he ended the season and the year, but at the same time let it be known that it was his intention that next year would be the last of his sporting career. Today everything is a mystery to him, he is waiting for the time to put things in order and tell him where to go in one direction or another. “I want to play again and be competitive,” he says. “But the hope is not to come back and win Roland Garros or Australia, make no mistake; I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I’m under no illusions. I am very aware of the difficulties I face, and there are several. One is insurmountable, which is age, and the other is the problems that usually prevent me from training 100%. “The combination of these two things makes the pursuit of some things seem very difficult or almost impossible, but that takes away my hope of playing again,” notes Nadal, who played his last match on January 18 on the Melbourne tarmac. Park.
Nadal and Florentino Pérez greet each other in the Bernabéu box.Juan Carlos Hidalgo (EFE)
The athlete peppers his speech with questions: “What if I really don’t recover from my hip?” Will I go out and compete knowing I have no other choice? What if I were suddenly perfect? What if I suddenly feel good and want to keep going? Why do I have to say something now that I don’t know?” – and refuses to set specific deadlines or concrete roadmaps. He says he’ll see a little more light in November and then have a better idea of where the shots can go, and that right now he’s working out 40 minutes, three days a week, plus the hours he spends between the gym and the Gym spends stretcher for recovery. The Mallorcan insists that in sport, as in life, things are very changeable and that what is today and tomorrow is b or d. “I am not negative, but I am realistic and cautious because reality has led me to this,” he clarifies. “And the games [de París 2024] “They would be a nice brooch if someone was willing to make a nice brooch out of them.” “I don’t know where I will play my last official game. If I know it, I will say it. What if my body suddenly recovers and I feel the energy to keep going? I work, and then my body and my head tell me what I can and can’t do.”
Djokovic, “ambition to the maximum”
Nadal, he explains, doesn’t have many friends on the racetrack anymore because he belongs to a different generation. He didn’t maintain excessive contact with his teammates, although he exchanged impressions with Roger Federer by phone “from time to time.” In fact, the Swiss hung up his racket a year ago because he was unable to continue the three-way battle with the Spaniard and Novak Djokovic due to a knee injury. The latter (36 years old and 24 majors) has just won again in New York, continues to collect milestones and is two majors ahead of the Balearic Islands, which denies that the balance of records robs him of sleep. “If I would have liked to have been the tennis player with the most Grand Slams in history? Undoubtedly, sport is about doing the best,” he answers himself. “What was an obsession for me? No. What frustrates me? Neither. You can’t always be frustrated by one thing or another. Life is what it is and everyone does what they can,” he continues, going on to say that Djokovic himself, who has the plate in hand and has all the numbers to win the game, will be frustrated could.
“I think Novak experienced it more intensely than I did in that respect. I think for him it would have been more frustrating not to get it… And maybe that’s why he got it. I think he had the ability to push his ambition to the maximum. I was an ambitious person, but with a healthy ambition that allowed me to see things from a perspective and without frustration. It’s my way of living it and feeling it,” he says; “They are different cultures. I lived it differently and am happy with it. What would change things in my life? Many. “I made wrong decisions.” For example, did Nadal put too much pressure? “I played very little for many years, what happens is that people have memories of the beginning. If you look at the numbers, I have been one of those who have played the fewest games on the track for years. But about it [cinco años de baja en total como consecuencia de las lesiones] Sport is also possible. He had a physique or a style that allowed him to play more than me. I did what I could, I can’t blame myself. If I made a mistake, I did it because I thought I did the best thing for my career at that moment.”
Nadal is not afraid of tomorrow, because for years he has been laying the foundation for his future beyond competition, and in the present he enjoys spending time with his son Rafael, even if carrying the baby hurts his back. Sometimes he goes for a walk with the stroller, “like everyone else,” and the current exercise routine “bores” him because he has to control every maneuver. “It’s not that the ball is slow, but I can’t move with the intensity that I’m used to. “I constantly have to hold myself back,” he emphasizes. He also watches football, his Real Madrid; In fact, he witnessed the win against Real Sociedad in the Bernabéu box the night before. He would be happy if the white club signed the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé – “who doesn’t like him?” – and when asked if he would like to take over the management of the club one day, he answers: “I don’t know. Yes I would like? I think so, but first we have the best possible president, and then what he thinks today may not be what he will think tomorrow. Life takes many turns, you don’t know if you’re qualified for which things. I more or less know my limits and don’t know if I would be able to do it.”
“ALCARAZ? “I would tell him to keep improving.”
AC | Madrid
Nadal, in the interview with Movistar+, also referred to Carlos Alcaraz, the undisputed protagonist of this 2023, along with Djokovic. The 20-year-old from Murcia has won six titles this year and topped the rankings at various stages, becoming tennis player with the brightest future.
“I don’t think there’s any rush for him, that’s logical. There’s a new young man coming in who is number one and has won two majors. For me it’s not an exaggeration. It has a brutal projection. He has the youth, the strength and the ambition. He has the projection of someone very great, but later in any athlete’s career many things can happen that may not depend on you,” he warns.
Although he doesn’t like to give too much advice, he recommends that Murcian residents take references. “What I learned most are examples, not words. The wind carries them away very quickly. I would tell him to improve, keep improving. The hope of continuing to improve is what motivates you. Going to work out for the sake of working out bores me to my core; I wake up with the thought of improving myself and always go to court with that hope.”
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