by Like many pensioners, Rafael Nadal was liberated to pursue his ambitions as a golfer. In contrast to most, he supposedly plays from zero.
Nadal, a 22-fold great master and the largest Clay Court player ever, does not miss the tennis court in the least. In fact, he has not touched a racket since his career ended his career almost six months ago. But the golf course is a different story and it is quite confident in his game.
When asked whether he would ever expose himself against the rest of tennis’ Big Four “, his answer is immediately.” Yes, that could happen, but you have to get a training session – I have a bit of advantage, “he says with his trademark and a shimmer in his eyes.” There was no big difference between us on the tennis court, but I am much better than you. “
Goodriesed Fighting Speech from the Spaniard, about a tempting view. With 69 main titles and two decades of rivalry between Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, people would pay good money to see this amateur golf tournament.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
Credit: DP World Tour | Instagram: Rogerfederer | Ryder cup
All four are enthusiastic golfers, but they may have to wait until Djokovic is finished with tennis. He remains according to Major Title No. 25, which would make him the most decorated champion in history. When he recrayed newly equipped Murray to train him at the end of last year, Nadal was as surprised as everyone else.
“It surprised me a little that Andy wanted to start a project again immediately after retirement. But I understand that the project that is together with Novak is an attractive one, and one thing that he would be passionate about. I also understand that Novak is with one of his rivals with one of his competitors.
In comparison, Nadal sees no coaching in his future. He is busy being a fan of sports. A current video of him, which suffers from Real Madrid’s Copa Del Rey semi-final, became viral, while he said that he had “so many nerves” through and was “emotional” and watched how Rory Mcilroy finally won the champions.
“I gave everything I had to the end.”
He has been away from the tennis tour at the Davis Cup since an emotional farewell in Malaga since he retired last November. Now his absence of tennis is more economical than ever. A sound court season without Nadal is like a Wimbledon forteen without rain; It just doesn’t feel quite right. But for the first time in 20 years, Nadal is not preparing for Roland Garros or at least tries to put his body into a fity condition to aim at it.
The Madrid Open started on Tuesday and Nadal is in the city, but far from the Caja Mágica Stadium, where he won five times. Instead, we are sitting in a plush conference room in the Four Seasons Hotel for his first Sitdown with a British national since retirement.
Nadal is honored with the Laureus Sporting Icon Award, one of many awards that has been awarded to him since retirement. Last season, there were countless tribuser emonities for him when fans, tournament directors, organizers and radio organizers were equally announced in order to say goodbye to the undisputed king of Clay. A Netflix crew followed its movement. Video montages tried to trigger an emotional reaction from Nadal, and the questions of retirement were fired in his way while he was grim but polite.
Everything that Tenniss Gladiator-Die Highest Physical, the emphatic, ubiquitous effort and technology that interrupted every attempt was ultimately done was his downfall. His body could not withstand another game. Andy Roddick, the former Podcaster podcaster, recently noticed that Nadal, 38, “could not really walk for about a month” after suffering the final loss of his career last November.
Now, with his new Laureus Prize in hand and a Roland Garros ceremony, which is later planned this month, Nadal feels more comfortable with the expression of the worship. “Now it’s different. I hadn’t made my decision at the time. [was] A difficult time emotionally trying to manage everything they feel and at the same time try to give the fans all the love and support they give them. At the same time, you have to find a way to isolate yourself emotionally so that you are not carried away at the moment. I wanted to be absolutely sure that it was the right step when I retired. I had hated to be at home today and thought I should play tennis out there. And today I’m completely in peace. I know that until the end I gave everything I had. “
“I am sure that sinners is an innocent and moral person”
Nadal admits that he only saw “a few games” this season, but keeps pace with the results. The men’s tennis is in a strange transition moment: Djokovics Star seems to be licking up since his Olympic triumph last summer, Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz has only now rediscovered his form after a Fallow period and Jannik Sünders dominance due to a controversial drug.
In February, World No. 1 began a three-month ban that was agreed with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after two failed drug tests last season. He was originally released by an independent tribunal of misconduct last August, but Wada asked the idea that sinners were “no fault or negligence”.
The authorities do not deny the sinner’s explanation that the lane amounts of closes found in his system were accidentally transferred by his trainer during a massage, but the episode caused by tennis. Many players, including Djokovic, questioned the fairness of the process, while Serena Williams said that she had received a sanction of “20 years” if she had been caught in a similar scenario during her career.
What makes Nadal out of everything? “In the end, if I am not mistaken, he came out of the judgment as innocent,” he says of sinners. “In this case it was not positive for our sport, tennis. But these things sometimes happen, and so I see it because I believe in Jannik. I am convinced what I know about Jannik that he never tried to have an advantage over the rest. I am sure that Jannik is an innocent and moral person.
“From the other side of things, I would not undoubtedly question the decision. There are minutes that we all followed for our career. In this case, the authorities have all the information – everything we have, what we have, what is limited and often subjective. I believe in the judgment.
He adds: “After we do not like how the protocols work, the people involved have to work obviously to improve them. But for me I don’t like to talk about our sport. In the end, these protocols are the protocols that we all accepted and registered.”
No “personal motivation” to play tennis again
The tennis authorities have a number of fires that they want to publish, including a legal challenge of the professional tennis player association because of various disputes with working conditions, a letter that the top -20 players signed who demand more prize money from the Grand Slam tournaments and from the Sinner case. Whether Nadal could ever get involved in the tennis government, he says that it is much too early to know in his retirement. “I don’t know, I only retired six months ago,” he says.
For the time being, it is not too little work. He has a young, growing family. His foundation, which is available for underprivileged children through sports and education, remains the central focus, as does his academy in his hometown Manacor in Majorca. It was only last month that it produced his latest success story as a teenager Alexandra Eala, who has come from the Philippines since she was 12 years old, but has trained at the academy, made the Miami Open semi-final surprising. Moments like this, says Nadal, are a source of “motivation”.
When it comes to enjoying tennis yourself, the sport he mastered with obsessive passion has become Nadal Cold Türkiye. “I haven’t found the moment in my routine to play again to have this personal motivation,” he says. “Probably in the future, if I have a personal reason to do it, for an exhibition game or something like that. Then I will have this motivation. But for now this moment has not yet come.”
Rafael Nadal spoke about 25TH Edition of the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid. Further visits www.laureus.com
