‘An important part of my life is leaving too,’ says emotional Rafael Nadal in an interview with the Mirror.
This year’s US Open final was a stunning finale between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the two best players on earth.
And it was a wonderful way to finish it.
Nadal, the world’s greatest tennis player, was on the brink of history and the last of his career.
But all seemed to be going according to plan and he was a happy man heading into his final match.
And then, in the very last game of the match, his mind began to drift.
He started to think about his children.
He called them all to a different number, and he cried on the phone.
He then went to a hotel to spend his final hours.
Now we have the full on interview. Read it for yourself:
Q: As I was writing this story, I can’t help but think, “Is that it for you Rafael Nadal?” We have seen you through many a great era, we have seen you through a dark time, you have overcome many different things to get to where you are now. And I ask myself, Is it over? Do the past two years get you down? I hope not.
A: No. For me, tennis is a dream, it is a dream I want to die in. I had a lot of doubts and I had doubts about myself. I thought about where I want to go, I thought about what I want to do in life, and what I like to do. A lot of my doubts were self-doubts. I thought about all the things that I’m going to do in my life, all the goals that I want to achieve, and even when I was younger, I was so happy. I was happy when I was in the academy, I was happy in the clay-court season and I was happy in the grand slam. All of my childhood was dedicated to tennis, and when I was younger, my father and I really wanted to do it. He really wanted me to be a tennis player. It’s not the same as other sports. It’s much more involved.