Nadal: “I don’t know if I can get back to my level, but I will die for it”

The Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal focused on the next season, after the loss against the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassimeby 6-3 and 6-4, that he almost missed out on the ATP Finals to be held in Turin, the only major tournament that he does not maintain in his showcases.

“My 2023 season starts tomorrow. I have to keep working to have options for next year. There are some positive things, I played two tournaments in two weeks, it’s a positive thing. I don’t forgot how to play tennis, I need to recover the good sensations and the strong mentality that I need to be at the level I want to be, that I don’t know if I will recover but I have no doubt that I will. die for it”, assured he said in a press conference.

“These two games weren’t bad tennis-wise, they were bad mentally in key moments. Today was better than the other day, even though I wasn’t able to make my chances. I fought until the end, but when things go this way “With this dynamic, it’s hard to change. Nothing to complain about, just accept what we have today. Félix is ​​​​a great player who has played the key points better. Good for him”, he added.

Nadal, on a four-match losing streak dating back to 2009, admitted frustration and reiterated his usual refrain.

“Those who have won the most are because they know how to navigate the field of anxiety. These are sad, frustrating moments, I trained hard, with enthusiasm, but it wasn’t enough. I didn’t know anything else way to cure it than working,” he explained. .

“In sport, the ‘what if…’ doesn’t work. With that, many things would have been won. If the ‘if’ is not done, it is because you were not prepared. I have been training well, I have yet to win a game to be able to compete well. I have tennis quality in training. I was close to ‘click’ a few days ago, I haven’t done it yet and it’s time to recover,” he said.

The Spaniard, who did not manage to continue in the second part of the season, spoke about the situation he has experienced in recent months, between injuries and the birth of his firstborn: “Six difficult months, you have to accept it, when faced it’s all you. the events I faced, being here in the finals is positive”.

Rafa’s options to finish the season number one include the fact that the Norwegian Casper Ruud did not take a set against the American Fritz and on Thursday there is a huge result in his favor: “Finishing at number one is would be a great achievement, but I am not fighting to become it. My body, my age and my personal situation do not allow me to pursue that goal.”

Although he did not fully trust his chances, he congratulated his countryman Carlos Alcaraz: “Carlos is good, this is good news for Spanish tennis, he deserves it after a great year.”

On whether he is optimistic or doubtful about australia tomorrowNadal replied that it is somewhat compatible: “You can be optimistic and have doubts. If you don’t have doubts, from my point of view, you are arrogant; and if you are not optimistic it is impossible to win. I don’t know if what will happen in Australia. I will be the humble as possible facing the challenge and I can only work”.

“Doubts make you work more. Doubts are good, they help me. And optimism too. It’s time to recover, work hard, be positive, accept the challenge and I have to suffer more. We will know if I am ready in the next few months,” he said.

In addition, he assured that he felt motivated and that he was not thinking, at the moment, about giving up: “If I am here, it is because I am motivated. The simple fact of being here and fighting at the end of time with all the happened, that the easiest not to do it, it shows that the illusion is there”. And he pointed out that “I don’t know if he will reach the level, but I will die for it.”