Rgrip Nadal won the 14th title at Roland Garros. The Spanish tennis player brill ante Casper Ruud to achieve a milestone in his career and achieve the harvest Grand Slam number 22 in his career.
In an interview for MARK, Nadal stressed that he is not afraid to think about retirement and what he will do after his great life in tennis being one of the best, but now, he is focused on finding a treatment to remove the pain in his foot.
Ask. How was the night after the victory?
Response. The truth is that physically I am very well. I have been very well for two weeks. When I have played long matches, at the level of soreness, surprisingly due to the lack of training prior to this tournament, the following mornings I have woken up well. At this point in my career and at my age, I haven’t had many soreness.
Q. How about the foot?
R. I hurt at night. When I wake up, and after two and a half weeks taking loads of anti-inflammatories and painkillers every six hours, this Monday is proving difficult.
P. How long did the anesthesia that was applied to the foot before the games last?
R. It depends, it’s not mathematical, but about seven or eight horitas.
Q. What summary do you make of this Roland Garros?
R. At the tennis level it has an important value because it has managed to win over very good people. On a mental level, too. After experiencing what I experienced after Indian Wells with a broken rib, in Rome I am left lame and many days I have not been able to train… I knew that I could play the games because with a numb foot you can play. Being able to focus on tennis and play at the level that I have done means that mentally I have been prepared to take on the challenge.
P. You won the Gallic Open for the first time in 2005 and you have repeated 17 years later. What does he tell you?
R. The first thing he says is that many years have passed. I was the first to think that I would not have a career as long as I am having it. Among the things that have happened to me, I have always maintained the illusion and the determination to continue. And I have had the right people by my side who have decisively helped me to be able to continue.
P. In that time interval has tennis changed a lot?
R. Everything changes in this life. It is played in a faster way for sure. We have to adapt to things. Before, a more classic tennis was played on clay, a tennis more like Casper’s. Today there are fewer, even I don’t play it most of the time. We all evolve. I have adapted my racket to have more power. At the beginning of the year I changed the weight of my racket, the strings, I put more lead in the head to get a little more power… I switched to the old racket two days before Roland Garros to play on clay because I felt that I didn’t I have the necessary control. If I manage to play on grass or hard I will return to the other.
Q. Do you remember a better match with Novak Dokovic than the one played in the quarterfinals?
R. I think that at a tennis level the 2020 final was perhaps better than this match. The thing is that this time the result was more exciting. I was playing very well, but I couldn’t keep it up in the second set because I lacked baggage. It was the first time I had to play at that level for an hour and a half in the last four months. If I had done a normal clay season, winning a title, it would have been easier for me to maintain that level. In the third set I was determined to play aggressive again.
Q. Did you introduce any tactical novelty?
R. In the end we know each other very well. There is a lot of talk about tactics, but tactics can be applied when one plays well. I knew that at night, the ball doesn’t bounce as much as it does during the day, and my forehand down the line was very important to me. He gets into the track very well. During the day, Novak may have more of a sense of failure because the ball is more alive. It was a nice and exciting game because of the atmosphere that there was.
In the final my toes went numb and the feeling was worse
Q. Can you explain how you play with your foot without feeling?
R. They do a remote sensory nerve block. If the engine falls asleep, I won’t be able to move my foot. It’s not mathematical, there are days when I fall asleep a little lower. In the final my fingers also went numb and the feeling was worse. But I had control of the ankle, less than if you don’t have it asleep, but you control it enough to be able to compete. You have control of the foot, but no feeling and there might be a little more risk of twisting your ankle and stuff. The treatment allows me to go from being lame to playing without pain. I am able to win the tournament because I can move and I can run. Both in Rome and in Madrid it was in a more complicated way.
P. Can anyone match your 14 titles at Roland Garros?
R. It seems not, but it is not impossible. It is true that it is difficult. I am realistic about the difficulty that this has and all the circumstances that have to be given for it to happen. If I have done it, I suppose it can be repeated. I am not going to be a super chosen one although it is evident that many circumstances have to occur and in my case they have.
I was the first who thought that he would not have such a long career
P. A year ago Djokovic seemed to be the one with the most big titles and now he takes two from both Roger and Federer.
R. What seemed like a year ago today seems different. It is evident that Novak is the one in a clearer position to win the most ‘Grand Slams’ because he has no physical problems and has the level he has. Roger is who he is, but it’s clear he’s been gone a long time. Although you always have to expect something special from him. We all know how difficult it is after so much time and on top of injuries and at 40 years old. Let’s be realistic, but depending on what kind of players get surreal things. I’m not worried about ‘Grand Slam’ titles. I didn’t worry anymore when we were tied and I don’t worry now with two up. The only thing that worries is having the possibility of continuing to compete.
I am not going to be a super chosen one, although many circumstances have to be given for someone to win 14 Roland Garros
P. Life outside of tennis tempts you more because of all the problems you are experiencing to play and how do you imagine it?
R. I imagine it the same as the many times in my career that I have had to be out of competition for months due to injuries. I have always been happy outside of tennis, nor is it something that makes me lose sleep or have any fear. I have said it many times: I am not afraid of my life after tennis. I have and have always had many things that make me happy beyond tennis. On a physical level, what I have and at the foot level, if I want to, I can take away the pain in a quite definitive way. What happens is that to get rid of the pain I have to have an operation that fixes my foot, so I won’t be able to continue playing tennis.
Q. Could I be on the ship without pain tomorrow?
R. No, he could not be without pain. Last year, for example, Roland Garros finished and I was lame for two and a half weeks. When I left the game with Novak I couldn’t even go downstairs. And the fourth set had already been a disaster. But when you stop playing for a while, like when I left Montreal this summer, after a month and a half in my daily life the foot is not a problem. There comes a time when it stops hurting. It bothers me, but it’s not a pain like I feel when I’m training.
Q. What happened after the match with Corentin Moutet?
R. That day I was totally lame. Oh I hadn’t infiltrated the nerve yet. She was with another type of infiltration and from then on we came to the conclusion that she could not be infiltrating me where she was doing it. It was a continuous downhill.
Djokovic is the one in a clearer position to win the most ‘Grand Slams’
Q. Do you remember the last time you played a match without taking anti-inflammatories beforehand?
R. I don’t know, I just don’t want to get into it. All elite athletes have what we have and we take what we have to take in terms of painkillers to be able to compete. It is evident that the majority of professional athletes live with anti-inflammatories.
Q. Are you optimistic about the treatment you are going to undergo this week?
R. If we were not optimistic we would not do it. I don’t know, let’s see what happens. The goal is clear: to do a radiofrequency on the nerve to permanently make the sensation I have when I play with my foot asleep. If it works, and it leaves my nerve a little touched, it will take away a little sensitivity from the foot and it has been shown that I will be able to play.
Q. Does it pay you to continue playing?
R. Compensating always compensates. What doesn’t compensate is when you no longer feel competitive. If you can’t train, how are we going to compete? Those who are with me in my day to day know what there is. Let’s follow this possible solution. I am quite realistic, neither dramatic nor impulsive. I know what my reality is and I make decisions according to what can and cannot be done. And you can’t continue like these last few months. If this does not work and you have to think about an operation that does not guarantee that you will recover, then I already make a totally personal decision as to whether it compensates me or not.
It’s crazy to think about the ‘Grand Slam’ and more how I’m
Q. Is the puncture in the foot painful?
R. It hurts, I’m not going to cheat on you. In the end, the puncture hurts what it hurts to be pricked by a needle. It depends on the site it hurts more and it depends on the site it hurts less. I would say that it is bearable because otherwise we would not have done it, but doing this every day 20 minutes before going out on the track, well, it is not pleasant. Punctures no longer scare me at all because I’ve been punctured to get bored. I have confidence in the team that I have next to me, not only sports but also medical. During my career we have made the right decisions most of the time. Sometimes we have been wrong, but it is what it is.
Q. I had never started a season winning the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Is it crazy to think about completing the ‘Grand Slam’ in one course?
R. Yes, it’s crazy to even think about it and how I am. Even being perfect it seems crazy to me. It’s something no one has done since Rod Laver. The one who came closest was Djokovic last year. I don’t even consider it. More than winning the ‘Grand Slam’, he would sign to be able to play all four.
P. It has been written, spoken and speculated about your withdrawal or not, I take over… Do you think you have been treated with the respect you deserve?
R. I never go into that puddle. Just as it has been highly praised, I also understand that doubts also appear about many things. I have them too. I don’t read everything, especially when I’m in the middle of tournaments. I try to be isolated because I have to make my way.
P. His uncle Toni said not to kill him now.
R. It’s logical. We live in a world of immediacy and of the moment. It is evident that these last few months, with a broken rib and my zero preparation in Madrid and Rome, it coincided that Carlos (Alcaraz) won Miami, Barcelona, Madrid… He is a new face that brings a lot of positivism and I understand that somehow this promotion had to be done. I make my way and I have a certain age. As a mere spectator, I couldn’t be happier to have someone as good as Carlos in our country. If praising him so much is disrespectful to me, I don’t know how to quantify it.
P. The stands of Paris have been with you more than ever.
R. I think that for years the public behaved in an unbeatable way with me. Perhaps this year has been a little more special, but people had not been able to come to the stadium for a long time due to the coronavirus.
Alcaraz is a new face that brings a lot of positivism and I understand that somehow this promotion had to be done.
P. Is patches a therapy?
R. It depends on the day, there are days when it is a contrary therapy because I have to put up with Marc (Lpez) who has no fucking idea. We laugh. Parcheesi has one thing: you spend an hour and a half or two hours without realizing it and it’s a way to let go of the drivers, you’re not on your cell phone all the time and for me it’s positive to be with the team playing without being on the phone. We have an annual ranking and I was going for one, but now I think my father has passed me without playing. It’s just that the last few days have been critical.
