The Spanish Rafa Nadal began the 2023 season with a tough defeat in the United Cup against the British Cameron Norrie, something that made him reflect hard on himself, although he clarified that retirement is not something that is happening right now .
The former number 1 in the world reacted to people’s questioning about his current physical condition and let it be known that he keeps playing solely because of the passion he feels for this sport and that as long as he feels like this, he will not think about retiring.
“I don’t have to continue playing for any specific reason and I continue because of the passion I have for this sport. When I don’t have passion, I’ll leave it. It seems that they are very interested in the withdrawal. I am here to play tennis and the retirement has not arrived for now”, expressed Nadal.
Likewise, the current number two in the ATP ranking, acknowledged that today’s defeat against Norrie is due to the lack of continuity he has had in recent months, but he hopes that with the passing of days he can get back in shape.
“I can do things much better, although this game hasn’t been a disaster either. I have to be more solid, make fewer mistakes and improve my physique. I lacked speed but as I play games I will improve ”, he pointed out.
Nadal hopes that the arrival of victories will give him momentum. “I know that when he wins a game things will improve. I will play more relaxed. You have to learn from the negative things but I think I’ve done things well. I have competed until the end with a great player who had more rhythm than me. I have enough time to improve in these two weeks ”, he declared.
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