Rafael Nadal over his years of finessing his dominant on-court skills has undoubtedly swamped upon major hurdles derailing his performance.
The Spaniard tennis professional has attained the age of 36 years which complicates his overall output and the optimum results he witnessed delivered over the past 2 decades.
Most recently, Nadal’s troubles took a toll on him when was underway his second-round match at the Australian Open 2023. As per the reports, Nadal’s history with a previous hip injury resurfaced while he was playing the match, forcing him into taking a potentially prolonged period of recovery now.
The news surrounding Nadal suffering yet another injury at the Australian slam opened the gates to speculation about whether the Spaniard’s career is about to end and if so will he call in his retirement chit. These rumors however were addressed by Nadal’s former coach and uncle Toni Nadal who briefed fans about his nephew’s plans for the future.
Toni Nadal who now serves as a coach to Canadian tennis professional Félix Auger-Aliassime, shut down Rafael’s retirement rumors saying “For now it’s just about making the effort to continue, as he has been doing for a long time now. The word ‘retirement’ is not on Rafa’s mind,” making it certain that Nadal will keep on fighting.
“He is still in good form and, if he is in the right condition, he’ll continue. For now, he needs to rest and recover for three or four more weeks,” added Toni in connection to Nadal’s estimated recovery period for him to get back on the court.
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The Spaniard’s exit from the Melbourne Grand Slam this season paved the way for Novak Djokovic to earn his record 10th Australian Open title, tying him with Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam trophies.
While Rafael’s uncle Toni Nadal believes his run against the Serbian will be difficult, he stipulated it’s not impossible and there’s a good chance for the Spaniard to finish his career with more slams than Nole.
“It’ll be difficult because Djokovic is fresher than him. He’ll have a chance at Roland-Garros, so we’ll see. Ultimately, it’ll be a complicated fight against a great champion like Djokovic. He knows that his career, whatever he does from here on out, has been a great one,” added Toni.
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Ultimately, a clear impression has been left by Nadal’s uncle Toni that the 22-time Grand Slam is nowhere close to being associated with the word “retirement” and will likely chase his 23rd crown by competing at the Rolland Garros later this season.
When did Rafael Nadal make his ATP debut?
Rafael Nadal has been competing in the ATP Tour for more than 20 years now and witnessed his first-ever semi-final appearance in the Wimbledon Championship of 2002 as a junior competitor.
Rafa made his ATP debut back in 2002 when he participated in a tournament held in his hometown, Mallorca, and defeated the then world No. 81 Paraguay’s Ramon Delgado. The Spaniard officially turned pro in 2001 and by 2003 made a breakthrough by entering into the top 50 of the ATP.
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For better or worse, Nadal’s legacy is uncanny to any other tennis professional, and is often regarded as the ‘Underdog of Tennis’ owing to his unpredictable gameplay and rugged mentality which helps him make a comeback in matches that undoubtedly seems tilted against his favor.
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