Former WTA player Martina Navratilova recently talked about Rafael Nadal, and she admitted that she would retire if she were in his position.
Andy Murray's retirement saga showed that some media and fans will try to retire a player sooner than they might be ready to go. The Brit was hounded by some media for months with questions about his retirement, but he always maintained that he would announce it when he was ready.
That’s exactly what happened, as he ultimately announced his retirement months ahead of when it finally took place at the Paris Olympics. Nadal is going through something similar, as the Spanish player is being bombarded with retirement questions almost daily.
It’s clear from everything observed that Nadal won’t be playing for many more years. It’s a question of whether he’ll play for many more months, but that’s unknown right now.
Similar to Murray, Nadal said that he would announce the decision when he knows, underlining that he doesn’t know right now. Some have suggested that the Spaniard knows but doesn’t want to say; however, that doesn’t help anybody.
The only word that matters is Nadal’s. Former player Navratilova was still asked about her own thoughts on the matter during a recent interview with SkySports, and she shared what she thought about it.
"It depends on how much desire there is. If you’re just battling your body – you really want to play but it’s not letting you – then I would just give in. He has had an unbelievable career."
"A much longer career than we all thought he would have because of the physicality of his style. That foot has been bothering him for years. And, man, if I lived in Mallorca and had his lifestyle, his boat, I think I would hang it up."
Navratilova made a very interesting point about Nadal’s personal life. There’s plenty of fun to be had on that side of his life, and as long as he’s committed to tennis, he won’t be able to allocate most of his time to it.
Tennis is still a part that takes up a lot of time because of the daily practices and everything else that goes into it. It’s probably even more time-consuming at his age because he has to go slower and do more treatments.
He’s won everything that can be won, so ultimately, the only thing that could keep him in the sport is his desire to compete. He’s underlined a few times that he still has it, but that tends to evaporate quickly if wins don’t follow.
Competing weekly to win a few matches here and there isn’t what Nadal is after. If he makes the decision to play, he will play to win trophies, and the level he’s shown at times during his comeback attempts wasn’t good enough for that.
Nadal recently gave an interview in which he deflected a retirement question once more but confirmed that he doesn’t have any goals for this year when it comes to tennis, which means he likely won’t play any more tournaments outside of the Laver Cup and an exhibition in Saudi Arabia.
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