‘Don’t know what’s going to happen after here’ Rafael Nadal drops retirement hints after a glorious victory over Novak Djokovic
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Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal stepped up at the Phillipe Chatrier to defeat his arch-rival Novak Djokovic in a four-set thriller in Paris. Nadal came across Djokovic for the 59th time in his career for a spot in the semifinal of the French Open 2022. It was the first time in decades that Nadal was not a favorite in the French Open, given his recent rib injury and the recurring foot pain, just a few weeks before Roland Garros.
The foot pain reappeared in the Italian Open and Nadal was knocked out of the tournament and it looked like he might not even participate at Roland Garros. Nadal has a chronic foot condition, which is incurable so he has to bear the pain whenever it starts getting worse and it’s just a matter of time before Rafa would not be able to cope with all the pain to compete professionally against the fierce and talented players who are more than a decade younger than him. So, he believes that he would take one step at a time and see what happens in the future.
Rafael Nadal will do everything to stay competitive at the French Open 2022
Nadal had already clarified his stance on the possibility of retirement. He said:
“I don’t know what can happen. I think, as I said before, I’m going to be playing this tournament because we are doing the things to be ready to play this tournament, but I don’t know what’s going to happen after here. I have what I have in the foot, so if we are not able to find an improvement or small solution to that, then it’s becoming super difficult for me. So that’s it.”
Nadal is taking one step at a time and he believes that he should enjoy every moment he can: “I am just enjoying every day that I have the chance to be here, and without thinking much about what can happen in the future. Of course I’m going to keep fighting to find a solution, but for the moment we haven’t [got one]. So just giving myself a chance to play another semi-final here at Roland-Garros is a lot of energy for me.”
Rafa also revealed that he also his doctor to tend to his for in Paris, so that he can perform at his peak at Roland Garros. He said: “I’m doing everything that I can to play this tournament [in] the best conditions possible.”After that, I don’t know how it will be to be honest, but here I’ll be fine.”
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Prateek Sinha
(365 Articles Published)