Rafael Nadal recently spoke about his tennis career, saying that he doesn’t miss being on the courts at all.
As someone who spent over two decades fighting for every ball on the tennis court, Nadal’s life was very tied to the sport. Basically, every day of his life was dictated by tennis, and after more than 20 years, it came to an end.
Nadal ended his professional tennis career at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, and in the past few months, he had a chance to reflect on his career and enjoy his retirement.
And it seems the 38-year-old has been enjoying his time away from the tennis courts, as he admitted that he doesn’t miss playing at all. Nadal received a Sporting Icon award at the Laureus World Sport Awards, and at the event, he spoke about his retirement.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion admitted that he doesn’t miss tennis at all. Nadal explained that he doesn’t want to look back after closing this chapter of his life, which ended with months of injury struggles.
“The truth is that I don’t miss tennis. Zero. I don’t miss it at all. But not because I finished tired of tennis or fighting against tennis, not at all. I finished my career happy and if I could have, I would have carried on, because I loved what I was doing.”
“It was my passion, and that’s been the case all my life. It’s just that when you realize that physically you can’t do it anymore… you try to close that chapter. And I closed it.”
Nadal also explained why it took him so long to decide whether he would continue playing. He wanted to be sure that he wasn’t able to compete anymore, which he found out by the end of the 2024 season.
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“I delayed making my final decision because I needed time to be sure it was the right one. What would have been hard was sitting on my sofa, wondering if I should keep trying to play. When I saw that my body wasn’t going to recover to the level I needed to continue enjoying myself on court, then I made the decision to stop.”
At the same time, the fact that he knows he wouldn’t be competitive anymore is also the reason why Nadal doesn’t miss playing tennis anymore.
He knows it was the right time to stop, and he also knows that his body wouldn’t allow him to achieve any more success on the tennis court. His career is now over, and he can proudly look back on everything that he achieved.
“That’s why I don’t miss it. Because I finished with the peace of mind of knowing that I’d given it my all, and that my body couldn’t give any more.”