(Madrid) Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal, 37, reaffirmed Monday that 2024 would “perhaps” be the year of his retirement, after eight months of absence and two operations for his hip injury.
“I said it was possible that 2024 would be my last year, I maintain it, but I can’t confirm it 100% because I don’t know,” Rafael Nadal said in an interview with the channel Movistar+, saying they are “looking forward to playing again and being competitive again”.
“But the idea is not to come back to win Roland-Garros or the Australian Open. People should not be surprised, all this is a long way away, I am aware of the difficulties I encounter,” continued the Spaniard, 22 Grand Slam titles under his belt, referring to his “age” and his “physical problems”.
On May 18, Nadal withdrew from Roland-Garros, a tournament he has won fourteen times, due to a left hip injury contracted at the Australian Open in January.
On this occasion, he had already announced that “next year” would be “probably the last” of his career.
On Monday, he also revealed that he had undergone surgery on his psoas and hip a few months ago.
“Would I have liked to be the tennis player with the most Grand Slams? Without a doubt. (…) but that does not frustrate me,” he also said, returning to the battle with Novak Djokovic, to become the player with the greatest number of Grand Slams won – “Djoko” has 24 – and affirming that he does not make it “an obsession”.
“I think Novak experiences this in a more intense way than I do,” he continued, estimating that the “frustration” of not achieving it would have been greater for the Serb.
Finally mentioning Carlos Alcaraz, presented by many as his heir, Nadal judged that he had “the potential for everything”. But “if I had to tell him something, it would be to continue to improve,” he concluded.
