When Rafael Nadal He speaks, you have to listen to every word carefully, the owner of 22 Grand Slams became one of the best, perhaps the best, competitor in the history of sport, so his mentality is worthy of admiration. For such achievements, the 39-year-old Spaniard was once again awarded as a tennis legend by Diario AS in a new awards ceremony and shared an extensive interview in which he left information that will excite his followers and those of Roger Federer.
“In the future, who knows? If we have fun, if we manage to do something that makes sense and we feel like it… why not? There is no closed door to picking up a racket again, but I would have to prepare thoroughly. When you go out to play, you want to be prepared, and right now I am not. I would need a reasonable amount of time”declared the former world number one.
Rafael Nadal talked about his tactics when facing Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer
In addition, Nadal talked about his strategies and explained if he had any secrets against his rivals or a special tactic. “I wish I had been good enough to hide things… We spent so many years seeing each other that I didn’t hide much either. I gave what I had, without secrets: I tried to find solutions at every moment. If something worked, I tried to repeat it; if it didn’t work, I tried to change it. I don’t have anything hidden that I have never said. I would like to tell you something, but it would be a lie,” revealed the native of Manacor.
In addition, the 14-time Roland Garros champion spoke about his approach in the matches he played against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. “With Federer, the plan was clear, especially at the beginning: press his backhand with the high ball many times, until he stood still waiting for the shot again, and then I could switch to his forehand. It was a practice that required a mental effort for me, because many times I saw the shot going the other way, but I knew that repeating the backhand caused mental fatigue. I didn’t always feel like applying that tactic, but it was the most feasible,” explained Nadal, who delved into his strategies against the Serbian.
“With Novak, it was more random. On clay I changed a little more than on hard court. On hard court, in recent years, when my physique was no longer enough for certain efforts, it was much more difficult for me. To have options I needed my physique to respond, and it didn’t. I had to shorten points, and beating Novak with two or three shots was very difficult. I sometimes tried to be more aggressive with the serve, but it didn’t work. On clay I did find solutions, and on grass I also had options, although I ended up losing those semifinals (In Wimbledon 2018 he fell against the Serbian in five sets). explained the former Spanish player.
The records that the owner of 92 professional titles has achieved are impressive, but there are several that have remained marked in the memory of the Spanish legend, who highlighted that all the effort had its reward. “I have had a very long career and I have been very happy. Obviously there are results that are there and that are difficult to imagine. For me they still are. I don’t think about them regularly, but when I think that I have won 14 Roland Garros… it is something very complicated. Or 12 times in Barcelona, or that I didn’t know how many years in a row without leaving the top-10 (it was 912 weeks), having so many injuries and months out of work. That is a record that I am satisfied with: it speaks of perseverance and continuity. “It has been worth it,” finished Rafael Nadal.
