Rafael Nadal has admitted that he was very close to calling for the resignation of his tennis career in preparation for Wimbledon. The Spaniard struggled incredibly with the pain to win the French Open just a few weeks ago.
The ‘King of Clay’ had to have foot injections to keep him running throughout the tournament. He spent the preparation until Wimbledon resting and recovering to help put him in the best place possible to continue his Calendar Slam quest.
But Nadal has been far from his best in the first two games, dropping a set against Francisco Cerundolo and Ricardas Berankis. His toughest test will come in the next round against No. 27 seed Lorenzo Sonego, who looked in good shape during his second-round win over Hugo Gaston.
Looking ahead to Wimbledon, there were still questions about whether Nadal could compete. And the Spaniard has admitted that he only thought about retirement a few weeks ago.
“My philosophy is that a couple of weeks ago I was close to it [retirement]”Nadal said.” Now I don’t feel that way (smiles). That’s my philosophy, right?
“It’s something I’m not, I was never afraid of that day. I think I’m happy to have had a very happy life outside of tennis, even though tennis has been a very important part of my life for the last 30 years. years.
“I’ve been happy outside of tennis, no doubt. I have a lot of things I like to do outside of tennis, so that doesn’t worry me. But of course, when that day comes, it will be a change. All the changes in this life it takes a while.You have to adapt to the changes, right?
“But it’s normal for people to talk about the retirement of great athletes because somehow athletes who spend so much time at the top of the game, even more so in more popular sports, become part of the lives of so many. people. The same thing happens to me with some football players, with golfers.
“I mean, for example, a person I love to see, Tiger Woods playing. Now I’m not able to see Tiger Woods playing so often. Somehow, that’s also a change in my life.
“People will probably think the same as me, as a fan, when Roger doesn’t play, when Novak doesn’t play, when I don’t play, or when he doesn’t play any football, basketball or any sport, because they are part of life. people’s daily lives because they are an inspiration. “