Rafael Nadal was recently asked about his potential retirement from tennis, which he has been asked about multiple times in recent weeks.
The Spanish legend hasn’t played a lot of tennis this year, even though he has repeatedly attempted to do so. He started with the Australian Open warm-up in January, followed by the Netflix Slam exhibition in Las Vegas and then the Madrid-Rome swing in May.
He was a bit unlucky at Roland Garros, drawing Alexander Zverev in the first round. He played a decent match, but that wasn’t enough to overcome Zverev, which ended his Roland Garros campaign in the first round.
Nadal got a do-over at the Paris Olympics since this year’s Olympics were played on the Roland Garros courts, and it wasn’t the worst experience for him.
He played well with Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles, even though they fell short of the medal rounds. He was again very unlucky with the singles draw as he drew Novak Djokovic already in the second round.
While tennis lovers enjoyed that match, it meant the end for Nadal in the second round of the Olympics, which was a bit unfortunate for him. He had hoped to do better than that, but there were some positive signs in that match against Djokovic.
In the second set, Nadal almost staged an inspired comeback before eventually losing. In a recent interview with El Hormiguero, Nadal was asked about his career and any potential retirement.
As always, the Spaniard wasn’t decisive in his response. He admitted that he doesn’t like being asked about his retirement because, as he has always said, he will let everybody know once he knows.
“I think I reached a good level at the Olympics, which were my priority, but I had very bad luck with the draw. I don’t like being constantly asked about my retirement because when I’m sure, I will let you know what my decision is.”
Nadal on his tennis career
There’s no reason for him to hide that information from anyone, and he won’t. As for his tennis, he felt that he reached a decent level in Paris, which is arguably true, but his goals for this year are over. This likely means he won’t play anything outside of the Laver Cup and the exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this year.
“My objectives for the year are over and I haven’t achieved what I would have liked to. I train every day and I enjoy other things in life.”
Drawing conclusions from his sparse schedule is tough because, ultimately, he never elaborates on his every move. It’s clear that he’s not retired yet, but that could change tomorrow or in two weeks.
It’s also evident that he won’t be playing a lot of tennis for the rest of the year, so a proper comeback to competitive, high-level tennis could likely happen next year in Australia.
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Source: CNN
