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Rafael Nadal (zimbio.com)
During a record-breaking career that has been marred by injury, Rafael Nadal doesn’t look back in anger. He looks at a much bigger picture.
His most recent setback occurred with a troublesome wrist problem during 2016. Surging to back-to-back titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal was once again on course to challenge for the biggest titles in the world. The strong run came to an end at the Madrid Masters. The loss wasn’t an issue, it was the injury sustained to his wrist. The consequence was devastating for the Spaniard. Not only did he miss two-and-a-half-months of the tour. Had had to also withdraw from his beloved French Open, a tournament he has triumphed at on nine previous occasions.
“I am not frustrated by injuries. Being realistic, I have had injuries and perhaps without them my career would have been better, it may be, but at the same time I tell you that I am not in a position to complain about absolutely nothing. With injuries or no injuries I have had a fantastic race to this day.” Nadal told El Espanol.
Nadal returned to the tour at the Rio Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the men’s doubles alongside Marc Lopez. The comeback was a brief one as he opted to close his season after the China Open to focus on his wrist problem.
His latest return occurred almost two weeks ago at the Sydney International. At that tournament he produced encouraging wins over Alexandr Dolgopolov and Mischa Zverev before falling to Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals.
“I feel that I played six good matches (three in both Abu Dhabi and Brisbane), winning five, losing one. I’m going to fight for good things.” He said in Brisbane.
Next in Nadal’s quest for a resurgence back to the top of his game will be the Australian Open. It is an event that has given him reason to celebrate in the past. Three-times a finalist in Melbourne, Nadal lifted the title in 2009 to become the first and so far only Spanish man to win the Australian Open. His only blip occurred last year with a first round loss to Fernando Verdasco, who will play Novak Djokovic in the first round this year.
Nadal will be seeded ninth in Melbourne. On route to the last eight, he faces potential showdowns with Alexander Zverev and Gael Monfils as he bids to win his first major trophy since 2014.
The grand slam drought is one that the 30-year-old old would like to end. Currently with 14 majors under his best, he is only three wins away from levelling Federer’s all-time record. Nevertheless, Nadal believes there is more to life than winning trophies.
“Life is not just winning and being the best. There are other things too.” He said.
“In life there are more important things to gain. It is the happiness of one, to do what you like if you feel good. Logically, if you are not well, you are suffering.”
Content with his mindset regarding the big tournaments, Nadal is far from ending his career. Now working alongside Carlos Moya as well as his uncle Tony and Francisco Roig, he is targeting further improvement in 2017.
“To say that my career is done does not mean that I do not want to improve it, of course I want to improve it.” Nadal declared.
Nadal will begin his 13th Australian Open campaign on Tuesday against Jiri Vesely.