The former German tennis player, now a television commentator, assures that there is not much time left for the Spaniard on the circuit before his departure from professionalism.
Rafael Nadal continues to successfully stay at the top of the international tennis circuit. Of course, the constant injuries suffered lately have affected not only his physical performance, but also his emotional stability.
Nadal’s last shot It was an injury he presented in the Iliacus Psoas of his left leg while competing in the second round of the Australian Open against American Mackenzie McDonald. and that he will have it for six to eight weeks off.
After this meeting, it was Nadal himself who gave signs that he was evaluating his retirement. “I’m tired and frustrated from recovering from injuries for much of my career. . But I always accepted it. I can’t say I’m not mentally broken ’cause I would lie “, he confessed after the duel.
“I can come here and say life is great and you have to stay positive, but I’m not going to do that now. It’s a tough day and time and I accept it because we have to keep going. At the sports level, the glass fills up and there may be a time when it overflows “, he added, evaluating a possible withdrawal.
And one of the people considering this situation is Boris Becker . The former German tennis player, now a commentator, was clear in pointing out that the Manacor athlete is living his last days on the professional circuit.
“If the question is whether Rafa will play until he is 40, the answer is that I don’t think so. The loss to McDonald was the first step towards retirement because an injury like this takes a long time to recover from and he is already old. His days in tennis are numbered “, he assured the Eurosport channel.
“I think he will want to play in Paris one more time. I don’t know if he will return to Australia. That’s why you have to take advantage of his presence while he’s competing. “, he added later.
In fact, the question of his retirement was one of the questions the Hispanic had to face before starting his journey through the first Grand Slam of the year, after certain statements made by Alexander Zverev, who bet that Nadal would retire after Roland Garros this year.
“I have a good relationship with Zverev but not enough to admit something like that to him. I’m here to play tennis, have a great 2023 and try to keep fighting for everything I’ve fought for throughout my sporting career. I don’t think about my retirement “, he commented before suffering the injury.
Weak in the Middle East
Due to the recovery time after the injury itself, as well as working to get back into shape, Rafael Nadal will miss the tournaments in Doha (February 20-26) and Dubai (February 27-March 4).
A scheduled March 5 exhibition match in Las Vegas against Carlos Alcaraz ahead of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 was also in doubt.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
