“I don’t believe in movie endings,” Rafael Nadal opens up about his retirement announcement
Rafael Nadal shared candid words on how he felt after deciding to end his illustrious career at the Davis Cup in November.
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Rafael Nadal (Image via BBC)
Rafael Nadal decided to end his illustrious but injury-plagued career at the Davis Cup Finals in November. The Spaniard has been one of the greatest players of the sport and one the most respected athletes in modern history. In a recent interview, he revealed what he felt after deciding to hang his racket.
Nadal’s unrelenting and physical style of play made him famous on the court. His bullwhip-like left forehand and desperate pursuit for every single point on clay made him dominate the surface. Out of his 22 Grand Slams, he won 14 of them at the Roland Garros. However, last year, the 38-year-old suffered a hip injury at the Australian Open.
After surgery, he couldn’t return to the court in 2023. He returned to the court this year, but didn’t live up to expectations. Nadal failed to win any title, though he reached the Nordea Open final in July. He exited from the French Open after losing to Alexander Zverev in the first round. After the Paris Olympics, he withdrew from the US Open and Laver Cup due to fitness concerns.
Earlier this month, he announced he will retire from the sport at the Davis Cup in Malaga. In a recent interview, he reflected on how he felt making the decision to end his two-decade-long career.
I didn’t expect much from the end of my career for a long time, because you realize how hard everything is and I don’t believe in movie endings. Almost nobody has a movie ending, because it’s very difficult in sports to have them, unless it’s someone who really gets to the point where they’re healthy and can win, but they don’t really enjoy what they do anymore.
Rafael Nadal said (via as.com)
Nadal competed at the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia. The Spaniard finished fourth in the event and failed to win a single match. However, despite not playing at his peak, he showed once again that he is a great competitor on the court.
Rafael Nadal willing to make changes in his career if he could go back to the beginning
Rafael Nadal turned professional in 2001 at just 15 years old. He had to wait until 2004 to finally make his mark in the ATP by winning his first career title, which was on the clay court at the Spot Open in northern Poland. The following season he shot to fame after winning the French Open.
That same year, he broke into the ATP Top 10 for the first time and remained there for a record 912 consecutive weeks in his career. In the aforementioned interview, he revealed that despite having a great beginning in his career, he would have loved to change some things.
If I could go back, I would change things, without a doubt. But I think that in the end I did what I had to do most of the time, which was to live each moment with enthusiasm, with passion, with intensity, always trying to improve and have an appropriate behaviour. For me that is the most important thing. What I would tell him is to strive to improve every day.
Rafael Nadal said
Nadal ending his career at the Davis Cup in front of the home fans in Malaga will live in history. It will be more memorable if he guides the Spanish team to victory.
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Victor Okechukwu
(719 Articles Published)