Following his semi-final victory over Matteo Berrettini Friday at the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal revealed he is loving the opportunity of competing again at the highest level after he missed the second half of the 2021 season due to a foot injury.
The Spaniard, who captured his 89th tour-level title at the Melbourne Summer Set earlier this month, will aim to win a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam trophy on Sunday.
“It's amazing, and I'm super happy to be able to compete for the past three weeks at the level that I am doing,” Nadal said in his post-match press conference. “It's surprising for me to be able to play at the level that I am playing. Just competing and playing tennis at this high level again, facing the most important players of the world, it's unbelievable.
“For me, it's something completely unexpected, so I am super happy. I always try my best. My goal now is to win. [But] I am taking things in a little bit of a different way now. Of course, with the competitive spirit that I have, I can't go against that. It's my personal DNA. But in some ways, [just to] be able to have the chance to compete at this level, it's positive energy for me to keep going, because being very honest, for me it is much more important to have the chance to play tennis than win number 21.”
Prior to January, the World No. 5 had not played at a tour-level event since August in Washington due to a foot injury. The 35-year-old was forced to miss the US Open and Nitto ATP Finals as a result and admitted he did not know if he was ever going to be able to compete at a major again.
However, while doubts remain, the sixth seed’s run to the final in Melbourne is the reward for the hard work he and his team have put in to ensure he returned to full fitness.
“Doubts are still here,” Nadal said. “Honestly the doubts are going to be here probably for the rest of my career, without a doubt, because I have what I have and that's something that we cannot fix.
“Sometimes I went onto court and I was able to practise for only 20 minutes, sometimes 45, sometimes zero, sometimes two hours. But it has been very, very rough in terms of imagining myself playing best-of-five. So, [I am] super happy. It is true that I worked hard for a long time every single day in terms of when I was not able to play tennis I was working hard at the gym. I worked properly, and I kept a positive attitude to give myself a chance to be back.”
Nadal is currently level with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on 20 major titles. The former World No. 1 lifted the trophy at Melbourne Park in 2009 and has also reached the final on four other occasions (2012, 2014, 2017, 2019).
The Spaniard reiterated that while it will be special to move to 21 Grand Slam crowns, he is just focused on the chance of playing in the final in Melbourne again.
“Yeah, I'm happy that I am going to have a chance [to win a record-breaking 21st slam title]. I just feel happy to be part of this amazing era of tennis, sharing all these things with another two players. But for me, it's about more than all these statistics. It is about being in the final of the Australian Open one more time. That means a lot to me.”
The Spaniard, who captured his 89th tour-level title at the Melbourne Summer Set earlier this month, will aim to win a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam trophy on Sunday.
“It's amazing, and I'm super happy to be able to compete for the past three weeks at the level that I am doing,” Nadal said in his post-match press conference. “It's surprising for me to be able to play at the level that I am playing. Just competing and playing tennis at this high level again, facing the most important players of the world, it's unbelievable.
“For me, it's something completely unexpected, so I am super happy. I always try my best. My goal now is to win. [But] I am taking things in a little bit of a different way now. Of course, with the competitive spirit that I have, I can't go against that. It's my personal DNA. But in some ways, [just to] be able to have the chance to compete at this level, it's positive energy for me to keep going, because being very honest, for me it is much more important to have the chance to play tennis than win number 21.”
Prior to January, the World No. 5 had not played at a tour-level event since August in Washington due to a foot injury. The 35-year-old was forced to miss the US Open and Nitto ATP Finals as a result and admitted he did not know if he was ever going to be able to compete at a major again.
However, while doubts remain, the sixth seed’s run to the final in Melbourne is the reward for the hard work he and his team have put in to ensure he returned to full fitness.
“Doubts are still here,” Nadal said. “Honestly the doubts are going to be here probably for the rest of my career, without a doubt, because I have what I have and that's something that we cannot fix.
“Sometimes I went onto court and I was able to practise for only 20 minutes, sometimes 45, sometimes zero, sometimes two hours. But it has been very, very rough in terms of imagining myself playing best-of-five. So, [I am] super happy. It is true that I worked hard for a long time every single day in terms of when I was not able to play tennis I was working hard at the gym. I worked properly, and I kept a positive attitude to give myself a chance to be back.”
Nadal is currently level with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on 20 major titles. The former World No. 1 lifted the trophy at Melbourne Park in 2009 and has also reached the final on four other occasions (2012, 2014, 2017, 2019).
The Spaniard reiterated that while it will be special to move to 21 Grand Slam crowns, he is just focused on the chance of playing in the final in Melbourne again.
“Yeah, I'm happy that I am going to have a chance [to win a record-breaking 21st slam title]. I just feel happy to be part of this amazing era of tennis, sharing all these things with another two players. But for me, it's about more than all these statistics. It is about being in the final of the Australian Open one more time. That means a lot to me.”