“I was close to retire from tennis this year” - admits Rafael Nadal
ATP
Rafael Nadal was asked about his retirement after standing on the court with his friend and rival, Roger Federer, during the Swiss player's last match.
Nadal has been one of the players who has struggled with plenty of injuries throughout his tennis career. Just recently, at the 2022 French Open, he had to receive injections to numb his foot during his run to his second major trophy of the season.
Then, only a few weeks later, his run at the Wimbledon Championships was stopped by another injury. Earlier in the season, the Spaniard struggled with an injury at the Indian Wells Open as well.
So only in a bit more than half of a season, Nadal was impacted by some sort of issue in three events. That's certainly not a positive outlook for the future, especially for someone who is closing in on his 40s.
At the 2022 Laver Cup, he played doubles with Roger Federer in the Swiss player's last match. With Federer retiring, Nadal was also asked about his own retirement, but he admitted that, at the moment, he's not close to it, even though he considered it earlier this year.
"I don't think that time has come. But I won't lie. I was close to retire from tennis this year. During the French Open I thought it might be my last tournament."
Although the Spaniard has decided to continue playing, he started having more and more physical issues. Still, he doesn't want to think about his retirement.
"But at that moment, although from then on, everything has gone very wrong for physical reasons. The foot, on a physical level, has been a disaster."
"I busted my abs at Wimbledon, then again in New York, a lot of major misfortunes, added to all these personal things. But I don't really feel (like retiring) at that moment nor do I want to think about it."
