The Spanish Rafa Nadal assured that he will not go to Roland Garros if he feels that he has no option “to be competitive”, although he noted that if he feels that he has “0.01% of options” he will seek his fifteenth crown in Paris.
“I don’t want to feel at Roland Garros the way I felt in Madrid or Barcelona, ??without being able to really fight,” said the tennis player in an interview conducted before the Rome tournament and broadcast on French public television France 2. Nadal assured that with Clay court Grand Slam has “emotions and a history” that would make it “harder on a personal level to play it without being able to compete.”
“I mean going out to play the tournament thinking that I can’t be at my best, one hundred percent. If being at the maximum is not enough to even win a game, we will have to accept it. But I don’t see myself entering the court knowing that I have no option,” said the Mallorcan, eliminated prematurely in Madrid, Barcelona and Rome.
“But if there are 0.01% options, I want to explore them, I’m going to try. If there is 0%, then I prefer to keep another memory of the tournament,” she added.
Nadal assured that he never said “one hundred percent” that this would be his last season, although deep down he thought so and pointed out that “you never know what is going to happen in the future.” He acknowledged that his physique “reacted a little worse than he expected at the beginning of the season” but that now he is “happy with the progression.”
“I’m fine, happy to be on the circuit after several months without knowing if I could play again. I was very sad not to be able to play in Monte Carlo, but I was able to play in Barcelona, ??Madrid and Rome, and I hope to play Roland Garros. “They are tournaments that have great sporting and sentimental value for me, it is difficult to explain it in words, I hope to be able to play in all the tournaments where I can be,” he said.
He also reiterated his desire to compete in the Paris Games: “They are something unique in sport, an atmosphere that is only experienced during the Games, in sports such as tennis, soccer, basketball, soccer,… the most popular sports. popular. I think they are the essence of sport. This year they will be at Roland Garros, a special place for me, in Paris, the most important city of my career. We will see, there is a lot of time ahead, I have to do many things first, but I hope to be able to compete in them, I would like to very much.”
Nadal assured that he is aware of “everything that has happened” in his sports career and considered that the injuries have helped him appreciate his achievements more. “I had a major foot injury when I was 18 and there was an option that I wouldn’t be able to play tennis. That has complicated my career a lot on a physical level. But on the other hand, it helped me appreciate what has happened to me throughout my career,” he said.
“I’m shy, I don’t show much when things are going well, I live the moments with internal emotion. But I am aware of what has happened in my sports career. “I can only thank everyone who has supported me and made it possible for me to live the life I have lived in a pleasant and fun way,” he added.
Regarding his future retired life, he noted that he will miss the sport but that he has other things to compensate for it. “All changes in life are difficult to accept, but I have been lucky to have many other things that have made me happy, I have a family that gives me a lot and that is not going to change. But the adrenaline that sport gives you is difficult to find in life outside of sport,” he indicated.
