Rafael Nadal, who announced last week his return to official competition at the ATP 250 in Brisbane (Australia), which takes place in the first week of January, said this Thursday that “it is normal for it to be” his “last year” in active, although it cannot be 100% guaranteed.
“There is a good chance that it will be my last year without a doubt. There are chances that it will only be half a year, that it will be the full year, and there are chances that we won't be able to get to all of that.. “These are things that right now I do not have the capacity to answer and I am only in a position to say that I am competing again,” he stated.
In a video broadcast through his social networks, Nadal assured that he will “enjoy each tournament as if it were” the last, after having spent 2023 inactive, since January 18, and undergoing surgery on his iliopsoas. of the left leg and hip.
“I think it's going to be like this. I don't want to announce it as such, because in the end one doesn't know what can happen, and one always has to give oneself the opportunity and not say something that could later be a slave to what one has said.. I can't be one hundred percent sure.. “If things and my physique allow me to move forward and enjoy what I do, why am I going to set a deadline? I think it doesn't make sense,” he added.
“I fought”
Nadal, 37 years old and winner of 22 Grand Slams, acknowledged that he has thought that it made no sense to compete again, although, just as when he announced that he was going to stop a year ago, he believes that he deserves to end his career on the court, despite “all the doubts in the bad and very bad moments.”
“I have fought and I have maintained my enthusiasm at all times. I think I have had the right people around me, as I have always had throughout my career, family, team, friends. Everyone has helped me decisively to be where I am today, which is with the option of competing again.. Also the desire of the people who want to see me play has had a very important impact in my daily life in some way,” he added.