Tennis Became 'Hurtful' For Nadal When It 'Turned To Addiction' Says Petkovic

Saturday, 30 November 2024 at 14:00

byErik Virostko

Rafael Nadal might be one of the best tennis players in history, but that doesn't mean that he didn't suffer during his career.

When people see the best in some field, they often associate it with effortlessness. Roger Federer made it seem like he didn't even try on the tennis court, but that doesn't mean he didn't have to work hard behind the scenes.

The same could be said about Nadal. While his on-court style was the direct opposite of Federer's since the Spaniard left everything on the court to grind out every single point, the two achieved similar success, having won 20 and 22 Grand Slam titles, and that was thanks to their hard work when no one was looking.

Unfortunately for Nadal, he didn't have to work only as hard as most of his rivals, but likely even harder, as his career was marked by multiple injuries that stopped him from being even more successful.

Most notably, the Spanish legend struggled with a chronic foot injury that kept bothering him. As he became older, it also became more challenging to manage his body and compete at the highest level, something that was apparent in the last years of his tennis career.

However, as a competitor, Nadal wanted to push through. He wanted to fight for every single ball, even when it was clear he wasn't able to do that. The best example of that was his 2022 Wimbledon Championships quarter-final against Taylor Fritz.

Nadal won that match in five sets, but he was struggling with an injury throughout the match, an injury that ultimately forced him to withdraw from his semi-final match against Nick Kyrgios.

A wiser decision would be to withdraw already in the quarter-final, as his team advised him to, but Nadal just couldn't do that. He had to keep playing, even if it cost him his health.

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Former WTA player Andrea Petkovic knows what it means to work hard, and she spoke about her recent interaction with Boris Becker on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, explaining how the fellow German told her that tennis is "like a drug."

"Boris [Becker]… I just saw him for a lot of times now lately, and he said to me, ‘It’s like a drug. Tennis is like a drug.’ He said, ‘Winning titles is a drug, playing on Centre Court is a drug’."

According to Petkovic, it was also obvious when it became an "addiction" for Nadal as well, and as a result, it also became hurtful for his life. That was obvious in the last years of Nadal's career when he really wanted to keep playing, but he just couldn't.

"I think with Rafa you could see when it turns into addiction, when it becomes hurtful for your life. You could tell that he was starting to neglect his being, like you could see that it was unhealthy, he was injured all the time, you could see it in his face. Rafa is not the most relaxed person in general."

Nadal is retired now and enjoying life. He recently appeared at Real Madrid's Champions League match in Liverpool, and he also traveled to Manchester, where he spent some time with Manchester City players and their coach, Pep Guardiola.