Rafael Nadal has had a glorious career in tennis and is easily considered one of the best players to ever play the sport. He has a record of 21 Grand Slam Titles which is currently the highest in the Open Era.
Rafael Nadal’s never dying attitude has made him a force to reckon with especially for his opponents who never cancel out or underestimate Nadal’s chances to make a comeback on the court.
However, his fans have to accept the fact that one day he will have to rest his boots and retire.
He recently spoke out on his potential retirement during the post-match press conference at the Rome Masters. He admitted that there will be a time when he won’t be able to keep going since he is currently playing tennis through chronic pain.
Rafael Nadal is apparently living with an injury since his chronic foot issue has seemed to flair up during his match with Denis Shapovalov in the Rome Masters. Rafael went on to have a three-set defeat in the match, mostly owing to his injury woes.
Rafael Nadal intends to be fit for the upcoming French Open
Even though Rafael Nadal lost the match, he clearly dominated the first set against Denis. Only after the first set did his issues start flaring up and his game dropped off considerably.
The 21 times grand slam winner also said that he wants to be fit for the Rolland Garros which starts on May 22, but at the same time, he is also concerned about handling this persistent injury.
In the press conference, he further said,
“Let’s see for how long I can keep going or until my head tells me otherwise because right now, I must accept my days are like this,” said Nadal.
“There will be a moment where my head will ask me to stop because I cannot keep going not just thinking about tennis but thinking about normal life. That’s my reality.
“With such a daily pain it is hard for me (to life). I have tell this several times, I play to be happy and because playing makes me happy, but sometimes the pain takes away that happiness.”
He also claimed that he has to play through his injury which gets quite painful and affects his normal life.
This is the first time since 2004, wherein Rafael Nadal would be approaching the French Open without winning a single clay-court title in the buildup.
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