The captain of the Spanish Billie Jean King Cup team, Anabel Medina, envisions Rafa Nadal as Spain’s Davis Cup captain in the futureand advises him that in his retirement “find goals and things that motivate you and keep you feeling fulfilled.”
Anabel Medina, who shares her personal view on Manacorí’s decision in an interview with Agencia EFE, acknowledges that she wants to lead the team as captain in the medium or long term: “I want him to be the captain if I am a player”.
Although “as a coach the truth is that I do not consider it”, but as captain of Spain in the Davis Cup “yes I see it clearly”because he thinks he will be an “awesome” leader who will “help the team a lot, although it will probably take a lot of time for that to happen.”
Like many other people, the announcement of the imminent retirement of Rafa Nadal, who will bid farewell to tennis at the end of next November after the Davis Cup finals in Malaga, It left Medina with a “feeling of shame.”
“I was at home and I felt sinking, even though we knew it was something that would happen in a short time, Given his age and physical problems, he made a logical decision“, reflects the former tennis player of Valencia, who will lead Spain in the Women’s World Cup that will also be held in Malaga from November 13 to 20.
For Medina, Nadal is someone who “contributed a lot to sport and society”, so his figure “must always be there because we need the values that Rafa sent.”
“My only wish is that he doesn’t cut himself off from tennis, which I don’t think he will.“Added Medina, who retired from the courts in 2018 with an excellent record, with a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and a total of 39 titles, 11 singles and 28 in doubles, including two Roland Garros.
Medina stands out precisely for not separating himself from tennis since his retirement, as he has consolidated his last matches in his status as coach of Jelena Ostapenko, winner of Roland Garros in 2017, in addition to captaining Spain in Billie Jean. , formerly Federation Cup , since 2017.
Currently, he is also the director of the BBVA Open Internacional tournament in Valencia and since August of last year he has taken over the direction of women’s tennis at the ‘Rafa Nadal Academy’ in Mallorca, the tennis academy of the fourteen-time winner of Roland Garros. .
When asked what kind of advice he would give Nadal to face his retirement, Medina would tell her to “find goals and things that will motivate you and keep you feeling happy.”although “Rafa has very good and exciting projects like his academy.”
“For me, it’s very important to have goals outside of tennis so as not to feel the complete emptiness that the retired athlete feels. It’s like when people retire.
“I have no motivation, I don’t know what to do. It’s important to fill those hours. He will definitely want to rest and his son will be entertained as well,” Medina highlights about Nadal.
Source: La Verdad
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