Interview: the recuperation
Photo by Beth Wilson
While in Madrid to promote PokerStars, Rafa appears to have done an interview about his recovery. Here are two articles with quotes from it:
- EXCLUSIVE: King of pain Nadal on his struggle to beat career-threatening injury – by Mike Dickson (Mail Online)
- Nadal recuperation on track, will not rush back – by Iain Rogers (Reuters)
Here are a few quotes from Rafa:
“All that is in my mind is to keep working hard to come back. I cannot think about the future because it’s not like if you break your arm and you know you will have a few weeks like this, then a few weeks like that and then you are back. This is a day-by-day thing, I have checks every week to see how I’m improving. I can’t predict what will happen.”
“I hope you see me in Australia. That is the biggest goal for me, to come back just before then in Qatar, but I cannot say for sure it is going to happen.”
“The only thing is to recover well. I want to be 100 per cent when I come back. I don’t want to keep playing every day with doubts, not knowing if my knee is going to answer all the questions.”
“Was it a mistake to play at Wimbledon? Maybe, but when you are playing well it is hard to stop. At Roland Garros I had to play with anti-inflammatories to get through. After that I felt really bad. My practice before Wimbledon was terrible. I played the first round with injections, otherwise it would have been impossible. That doesn’t help the knee.”
“The Olympics is once every four years and you don’t know how many more you will get. I will work very hard to be in Rio but it is in four years. I am 26-and-a-half, I love competition, playing tennis, and this was actually a season I enjoyed playing more than others. I have the motivation to come back and that’s what I’m going to try.”
“I can’t pretend not to play on hard courts when two of the Slams are on hard courts, but there is a mistake with our game. You don’t watch footballers playing on a hard surface, or basketball players, those sports with rapid movements.
“It’s not going to change for me and my generation. Hard courts are very negative for the body. I know the sport is a business and creating these courts is easier than clay or grass, but I am 100 per cent sure it is wrong. I may have to play more on clay than before but there aren’t that many options.”
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He’s taking so long I’m starting to get scared! But whatever happens, just get well and dont push your recovery!
Vamos!
We miss you Rafa.. Just get well – when you start practising in November, millions of people around the world will celebrate your return .. VAMOS !
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Without him, tennis sucks.
I agree arwen , It sucks and tennis is not the same for sure but i still like watching tennis but without the passion.
Will the pain ever go away? What if it doesn’t? What will happen then? This is what concerns me.
Pleased to hear from Rafa , great of him to keep us informed as he has no obligation to do so. With all the different stories in the press you never know what to believe.
I hope the answer to my 1st question is a big YES and he will return whenever that may be cos I’m missing him big time.
“I hope you see me in Australia. That is the biggest goal for me, to come back just before then in Qatar, but I cannot say for sure it is going to happen.”
I’m hoping not to see Rafa on court until 2013 to be honest. Then he’ll have been away from tennis for 6 months, which is a highly appropriate time to optimise healing of those suffering knees. It’s good to hear that he’s engaging in a range of physical activities, enjoying life and that he’s keeping fit. Most importantly, Rafa seems to have the right attitude towards his injury and his future career.
If he can train and play without pain in the coming months, this positive yet realistic attitude means that he’ll have the right mindset to rebuild his confidence and ranking. But if he can’t play without pain, then he’ll have the right mindset to re-think his future. Whatever happens, I wish Rafa well.
I agree, Heath. Always good to hear your sensible, informed commentary.
Like it or not his career is over.Sad but true.
I don’t think we have enough evidence to come to that conclusion at all. Tennis players can go off for prolonged periods then come back again.
I don’t think Rafa knows himself exactly what the future holds, and it sounds like he is trying to be as honest as possible about his recovery.
Pay no attention to emir, everybodyguys.
The only constant in life is change. So we will see what changes are brought into Rafa’s tennis life, when that happens. He is good at working hard and also at accepting his fortunes, which have smiled on him as he says, more than ever expected. He works at staying fit and will pick up the racket again at some point. He is reality based.
I say it is good he is taking the time to let everything heal, and move on from that point, wherever that leads. That is life. I do miss him on court however and tennis is less exciting for me during his absence.
Time will tell.
Well, he gave one interview in a room with several reporters from different publications in attendance. The Daily Mail guy seems to have been looking for Tragic Drama. “King of Pain” — really? Pffft.
jAs well as the Reuters guy, the l’Equipe reporter seems to have had a more balanced, upbeat impression. @bluematilde got some quotations from this person via a reporter she knows — we don’t know whether the full article will make it onto the Net any time soon — and you can find the translated quotations at her Twitter page, also on Woofie’s Rafa Ramblings, I think. And they match the Reuters quotations. Rafa says what he’s been saying — no end time can be predicted, he goes weekly for checkups, this is not a retirement issue, he’s not worried about his ranking or the future, he still loves tennis, he’ll play when he’s free of pain and the knees are fine, etc.
Sounds reasoned, careful, and good to me, not a “struggle to beat career-threatening injury”…
Why do people come to this with negative comments, EMIR!!
Not once did I perceive from Rafa’s interview that he has any doubts about his future, only unsure when the knee will be healed and when he will return. That does not mean his career is over EMIR.
Rafa talks about a future in tennis still and if he was going to retire he would say so as he is not a person to mess about.
Several times in his career he has had set backs then come back stronger than ever and I don’t believe this time will be any different. I have faith.
Thoughts on how Rafa might change his schedule for 2013:
- Play Brisbane, Sydney or Auckland to get use to Australian time change. Traveling within Australian is quicker than flying from Doha to Melboune
- Don’t play two consecutive weeks outside of majors
- Don’t play MS1000s on hardcourts and play more clay tournaments in South/Central America/Europe. Some choices: Chile, Sao Paulo , Buenos Aires, Acapulco, Hamburg. If Rafa plays in lesser clay tournaments, the ATP will be better off. Ferrer plays in these tournaments and typically wins them.
- Don’t play after the USO until the tour finals
- Play Davis Cup when possible
- Play the majors and attempt to avoid playing back to back days
- Hit the ball flatter and shorten points on hardcourts. Rafa can do this as he did it in 2010.