"Winning 21st Grand Slam was one of the most emotional moments in my career" admits Rafael Nadal
ATP
Rafael Nadal recently lifted his 21st major title at the 2022 Australian Open, and he reflected on that achievement during the 2022 Madrid Open.
The Spaniard entered the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid as one of the favorites to win the event. However, his physical condition is still to be determined, as he has previously struggled with a rib injury, which he described as 'disabling' ahead of the tournament.
Nadal is, without a doubt, the greatest clay-court player who has ever graced a tennis court. The 35-year-old won the Roland Garros 13 times, and no one else came close to matching him on the courts in the French capital.
He's also won dozens of clay-court trophies around the world, and now, he'll be looking to add to his collection at the Madrid Open. However, he will encounter stiff competition on his road to winning the 2022 Madrid Open.
As one of the seeded players, he had a bye in the first round, but he will face the winner of the match between Miomir Kecmanovic and Alexander Bublik in the second round of the tournament.
The 35-year-old's physical conditions has been one of the main talking points since he arrived in the Spanish capital, and he shed some light on how he felt, providing some positive updates.
"I have improved compared to when I arrived here [in Madrid], but I still have ups and downs, because it's been a long time. It's going to be a difficult week. That's the reality. We have to be calm, we have to accept that things are going to be far away from perfection, but then onwards we just have to fight. I’m recovered. I feel good."
"It's a very tight tournament for me. We will have to take the positives and perhaps I will have good moments playing on court. We have to have some patience. We have to be humble day after day to see what happens. I will try to improve every day."
Having an injury during a season is not ideal for any player, especially for a player who is well in his 30s and isn't any stranger to physical issues, and the Spaniard detailed what issues there are connected to getting injured mid-season.
"It's difficult when you have these injuries in the middle of the season, it's difficult to recover. But my ideas are very clear. I know that the moment has been negative. A goal for me is to be able to accept what happened and be able to play as best as possible. I know it's going to be difficult, but I'm also confident. I know that things started very well at the beginning of the season."
Only a few months ago, Nadal was on top of the world after winning the Australian Open, completing a sensational comeback to beat Daniil Medvedev 2–6, 6–7(5), 6–4, 6–4, 7–5. Yet, he knows that what happens a few months ago doesn't matter now.
"In our sport, there is not much time to think about Australia anymore, Australia was amazing, without a doubt, one of the most emotional moments in my tennis career. But during the past month, I was thinking about my injury. It is not a sport that you have time to celebrate a lot of victories if you want to keep being competitive for the next couple of events, and that's what I try to do, even like this."
