'I had very big difficulties to walk for a month' - Rafael Nadal opens up on retirement from tennis, whilst disclosing Novak Djokovic's on-court advantage

Rafael Nadal lit the courts up in his time in the spotlight, winning 22 Grand Slam titles and being apart of the fabelled 'Big Four'. Now retired, he has opened up to why he has retired and reminisced on previous rivalries whilst looking ahead to the next big match-up in tennis.

Nadal's carrer spanned over two dazzzling decades, winning consistently in that period and regularly competing and beating the best. Now that is behind him, he has switched from a competitive athlete to a devoted family man, spending more time with his baby.

In an interview with The Athletic, Nadal said: “I want to spend time at home,” he said. “I postponed a lot of things to the end of the season because of the baby, and then I have to work. I have too many things in my life that for me are more important today,” he said. “I like tennis, I like other things, too, and I want to enjoy this moment of my life.

“I have too many things in my life that for me are more important today. I like tennis, I like other things, too, and I want to enjoy this moment of my life.”

Stepping away from the game

His final appearance came in Malaga, representing Spain in the Davis Cup, but his final Grand Slam appearance came at the place he won 15 of his 22 major titles at: Roland Garros. “I am not a guy who is … I am a little bit too shy for all these things. Roland Garros was the right place,” he said.

When asked why he retired, he said: “First of all, because after my retirement, I was very bad in terms of pain in my foot. I had very big difficulties to walk for a month.” He was able to say goodbye to the sport with his arch-rivals: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. They had treated each other with respect throughout their merciless careers, but the Spaniard revealed that it was 'a very deep personal feeling' to say goodbye to them. “Before that, I was at peace, after that, the same, but I was very happy to receive such a beautiful moment.”

'Big Four' rivalry

In an extremely competitive era of tennis, Nadal rarely got the chance to put his feet up and watch his on-court rivals mess up. He always had to be ready, 'pushing the limits' to compete. “We never had time to relax,” Nadal said. “We need to push all the time to the limits to compete in that era. When I was practising, I was practising to improve by myself, but at the same time, you have these clear rivals in front.”

In 2011, Djokovic defeated Nadal in six finals. This prompted the Spaniard to adapt his game to keep pace. “I knew after that year that I had to add things to my game,” he said. “So that kind of thing reflects how challenging the situation was. So at the end of the season, I said, ‘OK, what do I have to do to try to have better chances against him — especially on the hard courts?’ And talking with my uncle (then-coach Toni Nadal), with the rest of the team, we made a plan and a goal of the things that I need to do to have better chances.”

“Needed to be more aggressive and have a higher quality ball with my forehand when I was going for the winner. That was my goal. In some way, having players like Novak or like Roger in front gives you a clear way about the things you have to do.”

The Spaniard went on to reveal the similarities he had with Djokovic compared to Federer, but also the edge the Serbian had over him on hardcourts, with his movement not up to par of what it needed to be to lock horns with his opponent.

“I needed my body and my physical performance to the highest level to compete against Novak on a hard court. Roger was able to cut the points very fast with his serve, but Novak and me, our games are closer. He was better than me on hard without a doubt, but until 2013, 2014, I was able to compete against him the proper way. Then later, when you have a lot of issues in the body, you lose a little bit of confidence in the movement. You start avoiding things that you feel you can’t do like before, because you feel that if you do this kind of thing, you can be injured.

"The mental part of that had a huge impact against Novak. I needed this extra energy in terms of movement, in terms of bringing my game and my body to the limit. And I was not able to produce that anymore. I was able to create more damage on other surfaces like grass, but needed to create this super-long battle in terms of physical demand. It’s not about playing long, I was able to play for a long time, it’s about the movement that I need to do to push him to the limit.”

From old rivalries to new ones...

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have become the two dominant forces in tennis, having met in the previous two Grand Slam finals and winning the last seven majors between them. One of their most recent meeting produced one of the greatest tennis matches anyone has laid eyes on, including Nadal.

“The match was unbelievable because it was super emotional at the end,” Nadal said. "For me, the first three sets were not that high-quality tennis. It was a normal final. Then, fourth and fifth sets were a high-quality fight. That’s from my point of view, talking about if I had to play against them. The fourth and fifth sets were super, super high-level tennis, emotional, had a little bit of everything.

“Before, for me, I think Carlos didn’t play at his level. From my perspective, I think he was a little bit wrong tactically.” Nadal didn’t want to expand on that tactical element. Jannik, of course, he was unlucky up 0-40, but when he had the chance to go for it, I think he was not playing with the right determination.

“I think he stopped doing what he was doing good — going for the shots and playing with this extra speed on the ball at the moment that he had to take advantage. He didn’t play as aggressive as he was doing before. But overall, if we put the full picture, the final was unforgettable. It was amazing. The end of the match was one of the most emotional that I saw and I was lucky to see that as a fan from home,” he said, with no yearning to be on the court instead of on his sofa. “I am not there anymore. I changed my mind after my retirement. I accepted 100 percent of my new life. Of course, as a tennis player, I’m not only watching the match, I try always, but I am analysing things. That’s something that I can’t avoid yet, but it’s not that I wish I was playing the match.”

Analsying the differences from his fellow countryman and Sinner, Nadal said: “From my point of view, Carlos can improve a little bit the tactical way to approach some matches. Sometimes it feels like he always plays for every big shot, and sometimes, he doesn’t need that much. That’s why I’m interested in how they evolve, because I think both of them have room to improve, and they are so good.”

The pair are on course to meet each other in the US Open final, a place Nadal knows all about, having won four titles at Flushing Meadows. He said: “I was a very emotional and intense player, a passionate player. So I felt very close to that amazing energy that New York produces, and the night sessions especially were unforgettable.”