Rafael Nadal is a living legend of the sport and he doesn’t want to hear about raising the white flag. The last few months have been very difficult for the Spaniard, who hasn’t been able to express his best tennis due to a series of injuries.
The former world number 1 showed up at the 2023 Australian Open in truly precarious conditions, leaving the scene already in the second round and sustaining a second-degree lesion to the ileo-psoas. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has already had to give up the ATPs in Doha and Dubai, while his participation in the Sunshine Double is hanging by a thread.
The 36-year-old from Manacor is destined to drop out of the Top 10 and many fear that his retirement is near. Rafa could decide to preserve his physique in view of the clay season, which will start with the Montecarlo Masters 1000.
The Iberian’s mind is already focused on Roland Garros, scheduled for the end of May on the red clay of Paris, where he will hunt for his 15th seal.
Berrettini pays tribute to Nadal
Rafael Nadal fascinates for his performances on the court but not only.
During an interview given to Corriere Dello Sport, Matteo Berrettini spoke with a touch of humor about the determination and dynamism shown daily by the man with 22 Grand Slam titles. “Pure energy, a bull. When he walks into a room, you feel the energy he exudes.
And when he tells you about something he did, whether he went fishing or golfed, it sounds like he’s telling you about the Punic Wars. He is at six thousand, pure energy,” observed the Italian. Rafael Nadal is “destined” to break every record in tennis history, believes compatriot Feliciano Lopez, who hailed the Spanish great as a “one in a million.” “Rafa is one in a million.
He is a gifted person who was destined to break all the records that have been and will be in the world of tennis. When you have a generation led by Rafa it is super easy to call it the best generation,” Lopez said. “Before and behind him there have been good players and, above all, different ones.
Spanish tennis players are beginning to believe that they can play well on surfaces other than clay. Nadal has put the culmination of this change of mentality. The success of our generation has been to play on all courts and not be afraid to beat anyone.”
