Pep also added: “We talked about sports, about how difficult it is to maintain success for so many years, as Federer and Djokovic have done for many years. In the end, he had to retire due to injuries; otherwise, he would be here. He said an incredible phrase: ‘I love to play, I want to play tennis, but my body says that’s enough.’
In a career as a football player, tennis is a sport you desire, but your body says it’s enough. He wanted it desperately; he loves tennis and wants to play it. Sometimes, the human body has limits, and it’s a sport where he ended up exhausted after many games, and in football, the same happens.”
Nadal is a source of inspiration
The Spaniard is also a source of inspiration for athletes in other sports, having transcended tennis and having shown the whole world how to overcome their limits. No one thought Nadal’s career would be so long, especially considering that he has had many serious injuries during his journey in professional tennis.
The former world number 1 is the top player who has missed the most Grand Slam tournaments during his career, but he retired without regrets and with the awareness that he has always given his best on the court. The 14-time French Open champion had turned his habits upside down in the last one to try to become competitive again.
He had abandoned his routine of intensive training, he had dedicated himself to his passions, he had taken a break from tennis, but his body had nothing more to give to this sport. Rafa understood this the day before the match against Nole Djokovic at the Paris Olympics, when an injury prevented him from playing at his best on the iconic Philippe Chatrier.
The Spaniard reflected on his future in the following months by sifting through all the hypotheses, before announcing to the whole world that his career would end in the last official event of the season.
