{"id":11956,"date":"2024-12-18T03:07:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T03:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11956"},"modified":"2024-12-18T03:07:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T03:07:00","slug":"rafael-nadal-reveals-he-almost-took-break-from-tennis-during-his-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11956","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal Reveals He Almost Took Break From Tennis During His Career"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><main class=\"\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"pb-6 pt-4\">\n<section class=\"\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-between mt-4\"><button class=\"flex items-center px-3 py-2 space-x-2 font-bold  border border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800 rounded-full focus:outline-none\"><span id=\"claps_count\">44<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex items-center space-x-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<section id=\"article-content\" class=\"prose-content editor-content\">\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">Rafael Nadal&#8217;s injuries and physical struggles throughout his career are well-known. However, it has now been revealed that he was not immune to physical struggles either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">Nadal retired from professional tennis at last month&#8217;s Davis Cup Finals.\u00a0The Spaniard lost his final match against Botic van de Zandschulp\u00a0before the Netherlands eliminated Team Spain by winning the deciding doubles match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">In his retirement announcement before the Davis Cup Finals, Nadal said his body no longer being able to compete at the level needed to challenge for Grand Slams was the main reason he was stepping away from tennis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">Since winning a 14th and final French Open title in June 2022, Nadal has endured constant injury issues. The most severe of these was a hip injury that ruled him out for the entire 2023 season.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sda mb-4\"><center><\/p>\n<div id=\"belowVideoAd\">\n<div id=\"snack_dex6\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/center><\/div>\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">Nadal made comeback attempts this year, including appearances at the French Open and the Olympics. Unfortunately, the former\u00a0ATP\u00a0world No. 1 was nowhere near his past level throughout this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">Toni Nadal, Rafael&#8217;s uncle and former coach, revealed that his nephew had\u00a0taken painkillers during practice sessions since the age of 18. Fans knew the 22-time Grand Slam champion suffered many injuries, but Toni&#8217;s revelation showed those issues were worse than the public knew.<\/p>\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">Nadal built a reputation as one of the mentally toughest athletes in sports history. His recovery from numerous injuries, which enabled him to win more Grand Slams and become one of the best tennis players ever is evidence of his unique mentality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">The legendary Spaniard endured physical and technical struggles at some stages of his career, but being unable to cope mentally on-court was not something Nadal appeared to struggle with often.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sda mb-4\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"snack_dex3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">However, Nadal has revealed in a piece he wrote for\u00a0The Players Tribune\u00a0that he almost took a break from tennis a few years ago because of mental struggles but found a way to overcome that problem.<\/p>\n<section class=\"py-4 mb-3 bg-[#1eb3e11a] lg:rounded-2xl\">\n<div class=\"px-4\">\n<div class=\"space-y-6\"><a class=\"flex items-center space-x-4\" href=\"https:\/\/tennis-infinity.com\/news\/nadal-has-more-kindness-and-sympathy-than-great-rivals-federer-and-djokovic\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"object-cover w-20 h-20 rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/r.testifier.nl\/Acbs8526SDKI\/resizing_type:fill\/width:113\/plain\/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-newsifier.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com%2Ftennisinfinitycom%2Fimages%2F2024-11%2Fnadal-rafael-daviscup24-imagozumawire2-673ccdb07f392.jpg\" alt=\"Nadal Has More 'Kindness And Sympathy' Than Federer And Djokovic Says Italian Tennis Chief\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<h5 class=\" text-base font-bold \" data-title-a=\"Nadal Has More 'Kindness And Sympathy' Than Federer And Djokovic Says Italian Tennis Chief\" data-title-b=\"Nadal Has More 'Kindness And Sympathy' Than Federer And Djokovic Says Italian Tennis Chief\">Nadal Has More &#8216;Kindness And Sympathy&#8217; Than Federer And Djokovic Says Italian Tennis Chief<\/h5>\n<p><span class=\"hidden lg:block mt-3 opacity-70 font-normal\">Monday, 16 December 2024<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\">\n<p class=\"mb-0\">&#8220;I went through a very difficult moment, mentally, a few years ago. Physical pain I was very used to, but there were times on the court when I had trouble controlling my breathing, and I couldn\u2019t play at the highest level. I don\u2019t have trouble saying it now.&#8221;<\/p>\n<footer class=\"blockquote-footer\"><\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\">\n<p class=\"mb-0\">&#8220;After all, we are human beings, not superheroes. The person you see at center court with a trophy is a person. Exhausted, relieved, happy, thankful \u2014 but just a person.&#8221;<\/p>\n<footer class=\"blockquote-footer\"><\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sda mb-4\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"snack_dex4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\">\n<p class=\"mb-0\">&#8220;Thankfully, I didn\u2019t get to the point of not being able to control things like anxiety, but there are moments with every player when it\u2019s difficult to control your mind, and when that happens it\u2019s difficult to have total control of your game.&#8221;<\/p>\n<footer class=\"blockquote-footer\"><\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\">\n<p class=\"mb-0\">&#8220;There were months when I thought about taking a complete break from tennis to cleanse my mind. In the end, I worked on it every day to get better. I conquered it by always moving forward, and I slowly became myself again. The thing that I\u2019m most proud of is that I may have struggled, but I never quit. I always gave the maximum.&#8221;<\/p>\n<footer class=\"blockquote-footer\"><\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"editor-paragraph mb-3 text-base text-secondary dark:text-zinc-50\">Having mental struggles is something no person should be ashamed of. Someone of Nadal&#8217;s caliber experiencing them might make others see it is okay to reach out and get support if needed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sda mb-4\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"snack_dex5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"py-4 mb-3 bg-[#1eb3e11a] lg:rounded-2xl\">\n<div class=\"px-4\">\n<div class=\"space-y-6\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>44 Rafael Nadal&#8217;s injuries and physical struggles throughout his career are well-known. However, it has now been revealed that he was not immune to physical struggles either&#8230;. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rafael Nadal Reveals He Almost Took Break From Tennis During His Career - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11956\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rafael Nadal Reveals He Almost Took Break From Tennis During His Career - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"44 Rafael Nadal&#8217;s injuries and physical struggles throughout his career are well-known. 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