As he gets ready to launch yet another comeback from injury, Rafael Nadal explains how he maintains a positive perspective when it comes to dealing with the physical problems that have plagued his career since he was a young teen.
The Spaniard has sustained numerous injuries over the years, particularly to his knees, yet has always managed to return to his best, rising to the top of the rankings and adding to his Grand Slam titles tally.
At 32, he will attempt another comeback for 2019, after ending his 2018 season early due to a knee injury that forced him to retire from his US Open semi against Juan Martin del Potro, and an arthroscopic ankle surgery he underwent last month.
In Abu Dhabi this weekend for the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, Nadal admits that the frequent battles with injury sometimes take a toll on him, but he revealed how he is still able to overcome it.
“Yes of course it’s tough, you get tired to have pain, and you get tired to be injured. But that’s it. At the end of the day you come back home and you put everything on a balance and the balance always the positive things are much heavier than the negative things and then you wake up the next morning with the passion for the game, with the passion for the improvement and for the daily work and that’s the only way that I’m able to find a way to be back at the level that I want to be,” said the world No. 2.
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“Hopefully this time will be again a good comeback and knowing all the difficulties that that presents but I’m excited about it.”
Nadal got back on the court just two weeks ago, but feels confident he can be ready in time for the Australian Open (starts January 14, 2019). Asked to elaborate on the state of his knees and ankle, he said: “I’m happy the way that I improved with the things. Of course I need to prove myself when arriving the official competition. I think hopefully playing here helps me to do the first step and then in the official competition I just try to increase a little bit the intensity on the legs and everything and then we’ll know a little bit more where I am.”
