After the 2023 competition ended, Rafael Nadal announced his return to the circuit next year. With the confirmation, Novak Djokovic, who finished in first place in the world ranking, recognized what his relationship is like with the other members of the Big Three in the history of tennis.
During his interview with journalist Jon Wertheim, the greatest Grand Slam winner stated that he does not have a friendship with Nadal and Roger Federer because they are “rivals,” and added: “It is difficult as competitors to be close and share intimacies of our lives that could be used against us.” Likewise, the Serbian did not rule out generating that bond in the future: “We have shared the stage for so many years with great respect, so I hope that one day, when the curtains close, we can sit down to talk and reflect, it would be amazing.”
On the other hand, Djokovic, who was the most successful of the year, stated: “I love winning, I am inspired and motivated by records. I just try to be honest and authentic about my goals, as simple as that.” And boy does he have good numbers against his opponents, against the Spaniard he has an advantage of only one game difference (30-29), while with the Swiss the difference is a little larger, 27-23.
Rafael Nadal and a confession before his return: “There is a good chance that it will be my last year”
“It’s a reality, there’s a good chance this will be my last year, without a doubt. There’s a chance it’ll only be half a year, there’s a chance it’ll be a whole year, there’s a chance we won’t be able to make it to all of that. “These are things that, right now, I do not have the capacity to answer, this is the truth,” Nadal explained in the video published on his social networks.
Beyond stating that retirement could be close, the Spaniard added that his wish is for it to happen on a tennis court and not in a press room: “Of course, at many times I have thought that it made no sense to continue playing, that In the end there are many years, many things, many hours of work that you don’t see the result. But I still think that I didn’t deserve to end my sports career in a press room.”
In any case, the former world number 1 explained that he does not want to anticipate retirement or announce it prematurely. According to him, his intention is to prepare for Brisbane and see what the future holds: “I don’t want to announce it as such (retirement) because in the end you don’t know what can happen and you always have to give yourself the opportunity to say something.” and then not be a slave to what he said. I think it will be like that, I can’t guarantee it one hundred percent because in the end I have worked a lot to compete again. And if things and my physique allow me to move forward “And I enjoy what I do, why am I going to set a deadline? I think it doesn’t make sense.”
2023-12-10 18:16:07
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