It sounds contradictory if you think about
Rafael Nadal
, one of the tennis players who, beyond an innumerable collection of virtues recognized throughout his entire career, always had the
competitive spirit
as one of the most relevant aspects of his game. But stating that in the ATP 500 Barcelona it was more important to have been eliminated in the second round than to have beaten the Australian De Minaur is not crazy.
Nadal needs to go little by little on his return to the circuit, which will also be his last.
And there is no doubt about it because his head would not resist a new injury. The Mallorcan has not had a good time recently.
So much so that in recent months he did something he had never done since he became a professional; He spent days "
missing
" and without answering the phone to at least three key members of his team:
Carlos Moya
,
Gustavo Marcaccio
and his agent. And
he didn't do it out of rudeness but because his head had "match point" against him.
After his abdominal tear that forced him not to appear in the Wimbledon 2022 semifinal against
Nick Kyrgios
, the Mallorcan
introduced a small technical modification to his serve
so as not to overload that area.
What was it about? He was sticking his arm out from his side and they wanted to change him so that he could do it forward. And it was precisely that slightly different movement that, for example, caused him the pain that forced him to leave
Indian Wells
, one of his favorite tournaments, in March.
But in Manacor he resumed training and the level he recovered was such that he decided to travel to Barcelona to decide there whether or not he would play in the tournament that saw him win no less than 12 times. On the Catalan clay he began to play practice sets against top opponents. And he beat them all with authority, even with that changed service.
The victory in the debut against the Italian Cobolli excited everyone. Except him, of course.
"It's stupid to think that I'm a favorite
," he said before facing De Minaur.
He was right.
Nadal's future
Now the key is to stay healthy
. And think in the short term. At
Roland Garros
and at the
Olympic Games
(will he only play doubles with Alcaraz?). And then draw up a balance and do an analysis. If everything goes well I could play until the end of the year. But
no one puts their hands in the fire that 2024 will be the "last dance"
.
Because if you feel good and, above all, competitive - a key word in your life - why not think about a farewell on the court and in your favorite tournaments like Australia, Indian Wells (you never liked Miami because of the heat), Barcelona, Madrid, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.
The final word, as always, will be Rafael Nadal
. One of the best tennis players of all time and, by far, the owner of two titles that no one can argue with him:
the best player in history on slow courts
and the athlete who achieved one of the greatest feats in world sport. Because no one can question that having won Roland Garros 14 times is unrepeatable madness.