Rafael Nadal is adamant that skipping the grass season was the right decision, considering how everything else shaped up.
This year has been a weird sequence of stop-and-goes for the 38-year-old, who returned earlier this year in Australia. He played in Brisbane and played well before injuring himself in the third match he played there.
Plans to play at the Australian Open were abandoned, so he turned his attention to the Middle East, where he eyed a return at the Qatar Open in Doha. That plan was abandoned as well, as his recovery was going slow, but he never gave up.
The next event he was supposed to play was the Indian Wells Open, but he didn't play there because he injured himself in the Netflix Slam a few days before the event.
That looked eerily similar to how some other players' careers ended, but Nadal was adamant that he wouldn't give up. He didn't speak much about the future, admitting that he simply didn't know what would happen, and would follow what his body told him.
The comeback continued on clay with a decent appearance in Madrid. He then played in Rome and finally Roland Garros but was beaten in the first round for the first time in his career by Alexander Zverev.
It was a very unlucky draw for him, but playing well against a player who would make the final was a positive. He then opted to skip the grass season, which he explained during his recent stay in Bastad, where he's preparing for the Paris Olympics.
He's still convinced that it was the right decision, and many would agree. Plenty of analysts called it a wise decision, especially since this year's Olympics will also be played on clay.
"I love playing tennis. After Roland Garros, it saddened me that I could only train for a week at the physical level I needed to give myself the chance to be competitive on the Tour."
"That’s why I decided to keep training, to see how my body reacted with the Olympics in sight. Skipping the grass season was the right decision."
His run in Bastad has been pretty solid so far. He won his first and second singles matches at the event, and both doubles matches with Casper Ruud, so at least in doubles, he's one win away from the final.
Coming to Bastad has proved to be a good decision so far, and he's happy to be in the Swedish city. He's also ready to return to Roland Garros for the Olympics, as he's motivated to put together a good showing.
His match against Zverev was quite competitive, and the best-of-three format should allow Nadal to push harder early on in the match and not worry too much about ending up a four or five-hour battle, which could negatively impact his body.
"I’m happy to play on clay here in Bastad and look forward to being at Roland Garros in two weeks for the Olympics, which gives me extra motivation."
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