It is a familiar scenario Rafael Nadal knows all too well. He knows the pain, the disappointment, the surrender to circumstances that are out of his control, the right words to describe it all and the positive attitude to face it head on.
So when the world No. 1 addressed a packed interview room at the O2 Arena in London to announce he was withdrawing from the ATP Finals, it came as no surprise that Nadal was eloquent in his delivery and knew exactly what to say.
After battling through three gruelling sets, while suffering some serious pain in his injured right knee, before losing to David Goffin 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-4 in their ATP Finals opener on Monday, Nadal conceded that enough was enough.
“My season is finished. Yeah, I had the commitment with the event, with the city, with myself. I tried hard. I did the thing that I had to do to try to be ready to play,” said Nadal, who was carrying a knee injury that forced him to pull out of the Paris Masters less than two weeks ago.
“It’s about the pain. I cannot hold with enough power to keep playing. I tried, but seriously it was a miracle to be very close in the score during the match. It really don’t make sense.”
Injury has kept Nadal out of many tournaments he wished he’d competed in. It forced him about of Olympic Games, Grand Slams, as well as multiple ATP Finals.
By now, he is an expert in accepting the reality of his body’s shortcomings.
“That’s how it works, my career, at the same time. I can’t complain,” he simply states.
“I feel very lucky about all the things that are happening to me. But on the other hand, is true that I am probably the top player that had more injuries and more troubles in the careers of everyone, no?
“Is always about this challenge. But I am used to this and I know what I have to do. I think I am ready to do it.”
Nadal knew during the match that he would never finish this tournament in London. Yet somehow he saved four match points in the second set, forced a decider, and even got one of two breaks back in that third set before he lost.
“Nadal is a unique mammal,” tweeted British doubles star Jamie Murray during the match.
We were all wondering: Why was he putting himself through this while being so evidently injured.
Ultimately he knew this was going to be his last match and he wanted to go down the only way he knows how: fighting.
He winced in pain, but roared with every break point he saved. He fell behind and stormed back. He did everything his adoring fans love to witness. Except win the match.
“Even winning, even losing, I was going to pull out because I was not enjoying on court at all. Was not fun to play like this. I really believed that I don’t deserve after this great season to spend two more days on court with this terrible feelings, no? That’s all,” he bluntly explains.
The bizarre thing is that Nadal was not too far from winning that match against Goffin. But he insists that would have never swayed his decision.
“I’m not here to have some luck to win one match. I’m here to try and win the tournament,” he told Spanish press.
“I am, of course, disappointed. But I am not going to cry. I had a great season.”
That is of course true. With two Grand Slam titles and four more trophies captured in 2017, Nadal returned to the top of the rankings and ends the year as world No. 1.
Yep, sounds about right, @Charlymoya!https://t.co/Ph75uvHz1S pic.twitter.com/j4cBuoOWMn
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) November 13, 2017
The man whose troubled knees are as famous as he is has proven once again that no injury nor setback can keep him down for too long.
The Mallorcan says he knows exactly what he needs to do to overcome this current knee problem, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to be ready for the Australian Open next January, but “with no rush”.
There was zero hint of resentment or bitterness in Nadal’s tone of voice.
“One cannot always be frustrated. I’m a positive person in general. I try not to have big celebrations when things go well, nor big dramas when things don’t go well,” he says.
“It’s not a drama. It was a dream season, and I would have paid (money) for a season like this and I’ll stick with that.
“It’s true that I don’t like finishing like this. I believe that, on the inside, I deserved a better ending but sport does not owe anything to anyone.”
In a world riddled with entitlement, Nadal is sticking to his tried and tested method: work, suffer, accept, rinse, and repeat. A new cycle begins tomorrow.
