Rafael Nadal reveals his state of mind after ‘calling it a day’ to his tennis career
The 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal opened up on how he is at complete peace with himself after retirement earlier this year.
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Rafael Nadal (via X)
In an interview with The National in Jeddah last week, Rafael Nadal spoke about how he is at complete peace with himself after retirement. Nadal now looks forward to enjoying life and spending time with his family and friends. He also emphasized the importance of having life goals at every stage of life.
Part of the Spaniard’s plans now involve promoting tennis in Saudi Arabia as an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation. In this role, which he took back in January, he also plans to establish a branch of his Rafa Nadal Academy in the country. As a part of his role as ambassador, he was in Jeddah recently for the Next Gen ATP Finals at King Abdullah Sports City.
The last year and a half have been very tough in terms of not being able to practice and compete on a regular basis and to the standard that I am used to. So I tried my best until the last day. I just did the surgery in my hip to try to keep going, but it simply didn’t work as good as I needed it to be to keep going. But I’m 100 percent at peace with myself that I tried my best until the last day, to have success, and to stay with calm with myself that I did all I could do to be very well satisfied with myself.
Rafael Nadal to The National
Rafael Nadal played the last professional match of his career at the Davis Cup last month after a lengthy battle with injuries that forced him to hang up his racquet. He bade farewell on home soil after a loss to the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp. In his retirement speech, he admitted that he wasn’t tired of tennis, but his body was. Five weeks on from that final match, Nadal remarked he is at complete “peace” with himself now.
Rafael Nadal: “I don’t understand my life without having goals.”
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) December 26, 2024
My chat with the Spaniard in Jeddah last weekend📽️📰👇https://t.co/J37fRDetIX
Over his career, Rafael Nadal amassed a record-breaking 14 French Open titles, solidifying his dominance on the surface and earning the nickname ‘The King of Clay’. Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam titles place him among the all-time greats, alongside Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Rafael Nadal on accepting adversities
In the history of tennis, Rafael Nadal has carved an indelible legacy as one of the biggest fighters and greatest competitors. Perhaps Nadal’s most underrated asset was his ability to accept adversity and find ways to navigate it. He refrained from having extreme reactions to both victory and defeat.
Rafael Nadal remarked that he accepted all the challenges of his tennis career. Accepting his injuries and bad moments made it easy for him to survive and come back with motivation and passion. He strongly believes in accepting how one is today and working on how one will be tomorrow.
At the end of the day, Rafael Nadal believes that there are some things that one cannot control. One can be sad or angry, but at the end, life continues. Life is about always trying to be happy and accepting what one has in every single moment, Nadal remarked.
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Anubhav Bajpeyee
(172 Articles Published)