Rafael Nadal has always been admired for his attitude on and off the court, which has allowed him to have a hugely successful career that is much longer than expected. The former world No.1 was competitive at the highest level until the middle of the 2022 season, before injuries began to limit his appearances on the professional tour and affect his performances.
Everyone still remembers the Spanish legend's extraordinary triumphs in Melbourne and Paris that season, as well as the semi-final he reached at the Wimbledon Championships, which he was unable to play due to an injury suffered against Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. The 22-time Grand Slam champion was favourites against Nick Kyrgios in the semi-finals and had a real chance of reaching another final at Church Road.
The next two years were an ordeal for Rafa, who could no longer play with the consistency he wanted, receiving clearer and clearer signals from his body. Even before the start of the 2024 season, he had set Roland Garros and the Paris Olympics as his main goals, but the results did not live up to expectations and Nadal retired from professional tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga last November.
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Mark Ein talks about Rafa
Last week, the prestigious Washington ATP 500 was staged and tournament director Mark Ein gave a long interview, during which he recalled Rafa's participation in this event in 2021 (when there was the pandemic).
"We were in the middle of the pandemic still and the situation was not easy at all, because we could only fill half of the grandstands due to the regulations. When we negotiated with Rafa's team, they had no pretensions and let us choose how much money to offer. We offered him a substantial amount, but it was not in the least comparable to what he usually received to play an ATP 500. The tournament was a real success in that edition and it is for this reason that we have increased our offer to it" said Ein.
