By Humberto Viera
29 Jul 2024, 14:46 PM EDT
Rafael Nadal admitted that his defeat against Serbian Novak Djokovic was “hard to accept because of the way it happened” and avoided talking about definitive decisions about his career, which he will begin to consider after the Paris Games.
“When I finish here I will make the decisions I have to make, based on my desire and feelings. Although it may not make sense to many, I have been suffering for many years. I have had hip surgery and have spent a long time recovering. I feel better physically; but if I feel that I am not competitive, I will make the decision to retire. I have played very few tournaments since my hip operation, and it is not easy to recover from a major surgery like that, which happened just over a year ago,” Nadal explained in statements collected by EFE.
“I try to do what I can to enjoy myself and be competitive. If after this I don’t feel like playing anymore, I’ll let you know. But for now, let me live day by day and decide,” added the winner of twenty-two Grand Slams.
“I’ll make the decisions after this point. I’m still in competition, I still have doubles to go, and it’s not the time to get down,” said Rafael Nadal, 14-time champion at Roland Garros.
Nadal regretted that he is asked about retirement every day, which makes it difficult for him to focus on competition and progress. “I can’t spend all day thinking about retirement. I get the same question every day, and it’s difficult to get back to my best level like that. I try to live day by day.”
“I’m coming off two very difficult years, with many physical problems. I haven’t had any continuity and I’ve given myself some extra time to see if I could recover many things. But I can’t live every day thinking about whether it’s the last, because that doesn’t allow me to develop fully,” he added.
Regarding his defeat against Djokovic, which left him out of the singles draw for the Olympic Games, Nadal acknowledged the Serbian’s superiority at the moment.
“He was a much better player and you have to accept that. For an hour it was hard to digest what was happening, but I accepted it. I tried to have the right attitude and mentality to face him. I knew there was a chance that it would be like that. I couldn’t play at the level necessary to create problems for him. He didn’t give me anything and he was inspired for a long time. I didn’t have the quality of play necessary to compete,” he admitted.
“It’s not the same situation as 15 years ago and you’re not going to create problems for one of the best players in history like that. The analysis is that one of them wasn’t at a good level and the other one was,” said Nadal, regretting that his reaction in the second set “wasn’t complete.”
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