Rafael Nadal’s career has been very rich in victories and unexpected triumphs, which have made him a global icon and a living legend of the sport. The last two years have been particularly difficult for the Spanish ace, who has appeared on the tennis court with an increasingly sporadic frequency and no longer expressed himself at his best level.
Rafael Nadal© DAZN/YouTube
The former world number 1 hoped that 2024 would be a successful last dance, where he would say goodbye to fans in the main tournaments of the planet. Due to the usual injuries, the 22-time Grand Slam champion could not play all the tournaments he would have wished for and never seemed to be at the level of the current top players.
The 14-time French Open champion was eliminated in the first round at Roland Garros and in the second round at the Paris Olympics, failing to win a medal even in doubles with his predestined heir Carlos Alcaraz. The 38-year-old from Manacor avoided playing on the US Open’s hard courts to avoid further injuries and also missed the Laver Cup in Berlin last month. About a week ago, the announcement came that all sports fans feared. The Davis Cup Finals in Malaga will be the last official event of an almost unrepeatable career.
The weight of injuries
The 22-time Grand Slam champion will take part in the ‘Six Kings Slam’ in Saudi Arabia before the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, where he will represent his Spain for the last time. Rafa’s career has been even longer than expected, considering how many injuries he had during his amazing journey. Fans surely remember that Nadal’s career could have ended in 2005 due to a serious malformation of the foot, instead the Spanish has shocked the whole world many times in the last two decades.
Rafael Nadal, Riyadh 2024© Stream screenshot
In a long interview with MARCA, uncle Toni explained how the injuries affected Rafa’s career: “Rafael got used to playing with pain, but I told his father that if we had retired every time he had problems, he could have already lost five or six Grand Slam titles. Since 2005, I would say that Rafa could not complete 90% of his training sessions because of injuries. He was unable to play a Grand Slam match without taking painkillers. The problem he had was that he got used to playing with pain and saw how most of the time he came out stronger. He thought that this time it would be the same and what happens is that, now after the knee, it came to the hip…”
It’s not healthy at all, the healthy thing is to go for a walk or do a little gym. Today’s tennis is worse because of the speed at which it is played, as the ball goes faster the movements are more abrupt and sooner or later you make a movement that leads you to a serious problem.”
A look to the future
The 14-time French Open champion will try to lend a hand to Spain in the last event of his professional tennis career. It will not be easy for Nadal to play in the single, considering that his last official match dates back to the Olympics in Paris this summer. During a long interview with DAZN before the start of the ‘Six Kings Slam’, Nadal expressed his point of view about the future of men’s tennis: “We need to wait but of course this year, already two Gand Slams each, number one, number two in the world, so they (Alcaraz and Sinner) are creating their own story.
I mean, I think it’s not the moment to compare eras because Novak is still there. Roger and I, we left, we’re gonna leave soon but that’s part of the sports career of everyone so now it’s new generation coming. We need to leave them, create their own rivalries and create their own story without, they don’t need the comparisons with us and let’s see at the end of their careers, then going to be the moment to compare what they did, what we did.”
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer© @WeAreTennisFR X account
He praised Carlitos and Jannik: “They are doing great. They are very young, they already are achieving amazing things, winning Grand Slams, winning Masters 1000s, creating great numbers out there and they are very young. Carlos, Jannik, especially these two guys are making a special thing so wish them all the very best to keep growing in all ways and they are already huge stars and I’m sure if they are able to stay free of injuries, they’re gonna build an amazing career.” The Spaniard will face the winner of the match between Alcaraz and Rune in Saudi Arabia.
