Nadal: "Difficult moments have made me enjoy the beautiful ones"

Raquel Bermúdez Rodríguez | 11 Feb 2025 | 14.05

Rafa Nadal gives an interview to Movistar. Photo: Getty

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"I have had a long career, but in the end, I have never been very into events, celebrations, or tributes...". Almost three months after his official retirement as a professional player, Rafa Nadal leads an interesting live chat on Movistar from the COE (Spanish Olympic Committee) where he talks about how his life is after hanging up the racket, the moments of doubt he has gone through, and his future.

What does it feel like to be Rafa Nadal?

"I am just a regular person, coming from a small town. What I feel today is a great satisfaction in seeing the affection, recognition from the vast majority of people. It's always very special from colleagues, but in general, the biggest satisfaction for me, beyond all the effort to be peacefully retired today, is having done everything I could. For me, it was a priority in my career that when the day came, I could be calm knowing that I had done what needed to be done, which was everything possible at each moment.

After that, I feel grateful and satisfied to see the affection from the vast majority of people and all the support I have felt throughout my career. I have been very well-treated by everyone, by colleagues, by the media... I would say it has been a very beautiful journey for everyone involved".

Moments of doubt

"I believe that most athletes have highs and lows, and I had doubts, but doubts are good. They make us get up and train with the right determination. Doubt creates uncertainty about what might happen. It's true that I have had more setbacks in my career than others, I have suffered them, had moments of low points, but honestly, I always kept the excitement and confidence that things would improve. All those tough moments made me appreciate the very beautiful moments."

Definition of success

"Each person values success differently, I don't think there is a single definition. For me, the definition of success is to try to get as close as possible to your maximum. Winning or losing is a circumstance, sometimes it's a culmination of circumstances that may or may not happen, but the greatest success in the end is to have personal satisfaction of having made an effort to try to achieve your goals. Then there are people who are better than you, who surpass you, and that's okay. You have succeeded if you have managed to do what you set out to do and fought for it."

Life after tennis

"For now, I'm always busy doing things, which I believe is how it should be. In life, it's very important to have goals; if you don't, you might end up getting bored. I'm a person who needs to have things to do, I like it. It's a time to organize this new stage, and that's what we're doing. It's recent, it has been three months since I stopped playing, but so far, I have adapted well. I have played less sports than I would have liked. I have returned to playing soccer, which brings me joy.

I haven't picked up a racket again, it needs its time. When I stopped playing, I had a foot injury for a month, I was in bad shape. I lost a bit of rhythm there; otherwise, I would have continued playing. I lost track a bit, but at some point, I will pick it up again without a doubt. As with everything, when you finish a stage, you need a moment of disconnection, and that's what I'm doing".

His future

"Just because you're a great athlete doesn't make you more than a regular person. I think some highly successful people lose perspective. I have been fortunate to have a close family and team that helped me avoid that. My life will continue to be linked to sports because it's a fundamental part. I need a period of adjustment and organization."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Nadal: "Los momentos complicados me han hecho disfrutar de los bonitos"