Nadal opens up about life and career after emotional tribute at Roland Garros
Rafa Nadal said the presence of his friends and rivals Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray during a celebration of his glorious career at the French Open made an emotional Sunday, May 25, evening all the more special.
Thousands of fans including defending men's and women's champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek wore brick-red 'Merci Rafa' shirts before 14-times Roland Garros champion Nadal was immortalized on Court Philippe Chatrier with a plaque.
Nadal, who ended his career after representing Spain in the Davis Cup in November, said he had "infinite gratitude" for the people who ensured his name was permanently etched on the main show court at Roland Garros.
FFT / REUTERS VIDEO
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00:13Honestly, I've been unforgettable, plenty of emotions for a guy like me that I don't love these kind of things because I'm still a little bit shy for all this stuff.
00:26I don't like a lot to be the centre of attention for these things, it was enough when I was playing tennis, but I enjoyed it, I suffered a little bit with the emotions, but I enjoyed it a lot.
00:41It was amazing, thank you very much to everyone for making that day happen.
00:47I don't know, but I could imagine that they come, you know, that's true, you know, the agendas of the people sometimes are difficult,
00:56but of course, probably they know that they're going to make that day very special and that day is going to be very special for me.
01:04Novak is playing here, so it's easier, but at the same time Andy and Roger that just came in purpose mean a lot to me because at the end they represent a very important part of my tennis career.
01:17because in some way we push it to each other to the limits, as I said in my speech, and that's true, you know.
01:26I think I always say the same because we were three, four, four of the best rivals.
01:33In some way when you are only two, you know, you can lose a little bit of motivation in some way sometimes because the other, you know, start losing or gets injured.
01:43But here, being four, you know, you never had that margin because always one of that four were winning the tournament.
01:51You know, so that, to put in perspective, never allowed us to stay relaxed or to give us a break in terms of intensity,
02:02in terms of determination of keep improving our game.
02:07So I think within us, we show us the way to follow to be better and better.
02:16And we shift our dreams and probably because of that kind of rivalry, we raise the numbers of the history of tennis to the next level.
02:27And that helps to the next generations to try to improve them.
02:30And I am sure that's what's going to happen.
02:33Well, I said at the beginning, for me, it's impossible to describe in words what represent for me to have this space in the most important court in my life.
02:43You know, that's the truth. It's as simply as that.
02:47You know, my gratitude to the people who made that happen is infinite.
02:53And 20 years ago, I was thinking about the next practice.
02:59You know, I was thinking about my next tournament and I never thought about becoming one of the best players of all time or winning Grand Slams or all this stuff.
03:12I just worried about trying to improve every single day.
03:15And I felt that way during all my career, you know, and probably step by step.
03:20That's why I was able to build my career, this successful career.
03:29Because I always had doubts and I never considered myself that good.
03:35And that's the truth. Even today, I feel that, of course, numbers are amazing.
03:42But I never considered myself somebody special in a real way, not in a, you know, trying to be humble.
03:52No, in a real way. You know, I just, of course, my results were there.
03:57But every time when I went, when I went on court, I had the feeling that I could lose.
04:02And I never lost that feeling during all those years.
04:05And that probably sometimes didn't help me, that feeling.
04:10But overall in my long career, without a doubt, that was very important.
04:16Not because of my practices of tennis, because I didn't catch a racket yet after my retirement.
04:20So it's eight months without being on a tennis court.
04:24But I will. I will be back at some point.
04:28Because at some point I will be finding for me to prepare myself to play an exhibition or something like this.
04:34But even if I had a lot of opportunities to make that, I needed to give myself a time of disconnection.
04:44Because at the end, play exhibitions is not only go there and play the match.
04:48It's about all the preparation that requires that.
04:50Because when you play an exhibition, you want to show a good level of tennis.
04:54For the fans and for everybody who organise.
04:56So my daily routine is no routine. I have no routine today's.
05:01I am just learning about the next, this next chapter of my life.
05:08That I have projects like my academy, like the hotel company, like the supplements company that I did with Cantabria Lash.
05:19And I take care of my foundation too. And I take care of my family.
05:26And I am discovering what really motivates me for this new life.
05:32So it's not easy in terms of choosing your next goal.
05:39But for me it's so important to have goals in this life.
05:43Because a life without objectives is more difficult from my point of view.
05:49So I am discovering what really excites me and motivates me to keep going.
05:54And that's all. I am having fun.
05:57I don't miss much tennis because I felt that I gave all what I had.
06:02I arrived at the day of today with the peace that I can't be on court.
06:14My body don't allow me to be on court.
06:16So that's all. I am in peace. I did all what I could to have the best career possible.
06:24And now I am enjoying this new phase of my life.
06:28That I am sure going to be less exciting than the tennis career.
06:34Because the adrenaline that the sports gives to you, I think it's impossible to find in other things in life.
06:42But that don't mean that I'm going to be less happy.
06:45I can be happier with less adrenaline and taking care of different things.
06:51Asking about life, families.
06:54And, you know, my good friend Andy, that I was not able to...
07:01We were not in touch for a while.
07:04The day that Arsenal beat Real Madrid...
07:07When the match just finished after one second...
07:14He texted me a message...
07:19Telling me...
07:21Uh...
07:23No, I'm going to read because...
07:26I'm going to read because it's quite good.
07:30So I feel that it's quite interesting.
07:34Hey Rafa, haven't spoken to you in a while.
07:38Just checking in to make sure you are okay.
07:44So...
07:45Honestly, taking me like five seconds...
07:48To realize what I was reading.
07:50Because at the beginning...
07:51I said...
07:52Okay, he's such a nice guy.
07:54He's asking me about how I'm doing, family...
07:56And after five seconds I said...
07:58This...
08:01Always British.
08:03British sense of humour that...
08:10By the way, I didn't text him back when Inter beat Arsenal.
