Crisstti
Legend
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2208011/Rafael-Nadal-interview-struggle-injury.html
Silly headline, but interesting otherwise.
Not sure it was posted already.
‘All that is in my mind is to keep working hard to come back,’ he says. ‘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,’ says Nadal, who is in the Spanish capital to promote his involvement with PokerStars. ‘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.
‘I’ve played a lot in pain before as other people have done. The problem is when you run and you are thinking about where you are planting your leg. It is impossible to compete like that.
‘For me the Olympics was very tough. I was very, very sad for three weeks around then. I had the chance to carry the Spanish flag. It only comes every four years. Missing the US Open was hard but you think you will have more chances.
‘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.’
‘You know I’ve said many times in press conferences that Andy would win a Grand Slam and now he has won. He deserves it more than anyone. I am very happy for him. The normal thing is that it will help him. When you are winning tournaments like this your confidence is higher, it is easier to repeat what you’ve done before. It’s good for tennis that he has come to the level that was expected.’
‘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.’
Silly headline, but interesting otherwise.
Not sure it was posted already.
‘All that is in my mind is to keep working hard to come back,’ he says. ‘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,’ says Nadal, who is in the Spanish capital to promote his involvement with PokerStars. ‘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.
‘I’ve played a lot in pain before as other people have done. The problem is when you run and you are thinking about where you are planting your leg. It is impossible to compete like that.
‘For me the Olympics was very tough. I was very, very sad for three weeks around then. I had the chance to carry the Spanish flag. It only comes every four years. Missing the US Open was hard but you think you will have more chances.
‘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.’
‘You know I’ve said many times in press conferences that Andy would win a Grand Slam and now he has won. He deserves it more than anyone. I am very happy for him. The normal thing is that it will help him. When you are winning tournaments like this your confidence is higher, it is easier to repeat what you’ve done before. It’s good for tennis that he has come to the level that was expected.’
‘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.’