Spain’s legendary tennis star Rafael Nadal has admitted that he enjoyed normal life and stated that the one thing he missed the most during his lengthy break from the sport was feeling ‘healthy’.
The 37-year-old, who is often regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of tennis in the men’s single category, is set to return to the sport after a gap of nearly one year. He missed three Grand Slams in the process, largely because of a knee injury he sustained in the early part of 2023.
1068 - Upon his return from injury, Rafael Nadal is currently on 1,068 ATP match wins in his career. One victory will move him past Ivan Lendl for the outright fourth-most in the Open Era. Motivation. #BrisbaneTennis | @BrisbaneTennis @RafaelNadal @atptour
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Nadal, who is set to face Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the first round of the ATP event in Brisbane, was recently quoted in a report where he admitted that that one thing he missed the most during his time off the court was feeling healthy and waking up ‘without pain’.
"I missed to feel myself ready to compete,” said the former world number one. “I didn't miss the competition because during all this period of time, my body was not ready to compete. So when you feel that bad, you can't miss the competition.
“What I missed is being healthy, honestly. Wake up and don't have pain. Have the chance to have a normal life because during the last year, for such a lot of months, I was not able to have a normal life and enjoy playing golf or doing the normal things that I like to do with my friends or with my family. That's what I missed the most.
"Then when I starting to feel myself ready, like now, of course I am excited to come back to the tennis courts and excited to come back to the competition. Is something that I loved. If I don't have the determination to do it and the passion, as I said before from Andy, I will not be here.”
