Rafael Nadal’s glittering career is in jeopardy.
After his 6-1, 6-4 straight-sets loss to longtime rival Novak Djokovic in the singles match on Monday, Nadal opened up about his physical condition and said a decision on the future of his career would be made after the Paris tournament.
“Once this tournament is over I will take the necessary decision based on my feelings and wishes. It’s difficult to recover when you are thinking about whether to retire or not,” the 38-year-old told reporters after the match.
“This may not make sense to a lot of people, but I suffered for two years.”
The Spanish star’s tennis career has been plagued by injuries, most recently a hip injury that forced him to miss most of the 2023 season.
“If I feel like I’m not competitive then I’ll make the decision to stop. I’m just trying to do my best every day and enjoy what I’ve enjoyed for a long time,” the 2008 Olympic gold medallist said.
The 38-year-old Nadal, long known as the “King of Clay”, fought his way through the second set against the Serbian star, trailing 0-4 before tying the score at 4-4.
But even on his favorite red clay court, where he has won the French Open a record 14 times, he lacked the speed and power of his left hand and was unable to show his true potential.
“I knew it could have happened,” he said. “I just wasn’t playing at the level I needed to to give him problems.” [Djokovic].”
2024 Paris Olympics
Nadal spoke of his lack of fitness and described a match schedule that included a 12-hour gap between his doubles match on Saturday and his first-round singles match on Sunday as “ridiculous.”
“I don’t have the leg strength I had 20 years ago. If you don’t have the quality of the ball, if you don’t have the leg strength I had 20 years ago, you can’t touch the best players of all time,” Nadal said.
The two giants, who have a long-standing on-court rivalry and a combined 46 Grand Slam titles between them, embraced at the net after the match and Djokovic applauded his opponent outside the court.
“Back in 2006, I never imagined we’d still be playing against each other almost 20 years later,” Nadal said.
The future of Nadal’s career appears to depend on how much strength he has left in his body.
But despite the lingering questions, he hasn’t closed the door yet.
