Ahead of the special tournament in Manacor on Saturday to mark the tenth anniversary of the Rafa Nadal Academy, the now-retired Nadal said physically he was doing better than he had expected after leaving tennis; the end of his career on court was hastened by regular injuries.
He added that he would take part in an exhibition match at some point in the near future. “These three weeks have been a first step to see where I stand. Picking up a racket will always be fun for me.”
Nadal had been training for the Team Rafa v. Team Murray ‘slam’. On Nadal’s team were fellow Mallorcan and one-time coach, Carlos Moyà, plus David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet. With Andy Murray were Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem and Marat Safin.
He acknowledged that he no longer possesses the competitive edge that once made him an almost unbeatable opponent, although Ferrer and Moyà were not entirely convinced of that. “Today, the competitive Rafa will be completely absent. I’ve enjoyed just hitting the ball these past weeks – nothing more. In the last two years, I’d only picked up a racket about four times for half an hour each, whereas in the last two weeks I’ve played six times. We don’t want to get hurt; some of us aren’t exactly in shape.”
Nadal once again didn’t rule out becoming a coach. “Never say never. I’m here to support the kids at the academy and am open to lending a hand to anyone who asks, but I have two small children and plenty of other things keeping me busy. I don’t think my current life allows for the demands of coaching. You never know what might happen in five years, but right now it’s not on my mind.”
At the press conference, Murray revealed that during one of their early encounters, Nadal told him he would “go train with Carlos Moyà right after school”, whereas Murray was training “one hour, three days a week” with his mother. He realised then that “something had to change”.