{"id":12789,"date":"2024-12-21T03:09:16","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T03:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=12789"},"modified":"2024-12-21T03:09:16","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T03:09:16","slug":"rafael-nadal-pens-letter-following-tennis-retirement-i-went-through-a-very-difficult-moment-mentally-a-few-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=12789","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal pens letter following tennis retirement; ‘I went through a very difficult moment, mentally, a few years ago’.."},"content":{"rendered":"

In the letter, Nadal addressed some of the highs and lows of his career<\/h2>\n
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Rafael Nadal is saying goodbye to his life\u2019s work. The athlete recently retired after participating in the Davis Cup, and shared an emotional letter where he discussed some of the things he\u2019s learned with tennis and some of the highs and lows of his unparalleled career. Nadal\u2019s letter was published in English and Spanish in The Players\u2019 Tribune. He starts by recounting the memory of a tennis loss when he was 12 years old, and how the advice he received from his uncle shaped him for years to come.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen I was young, I learned a lesson that still sticks in my life,\u201d he wrote, sharing that he\u2019s always loved the sea and fishing. \u201cOne day, I went out fishing when I could have been training. The next day, I lost my match.\u201d He shared that he was crying. \u201cIt\u2019s OK, it\u2019s just a tennis match,\u201d said his uncle. \u201cDon\u2019t cry now, there is no point. If you want to fish, you can fish. No problem. But you will lose. If you want to win? If you want to win, then you have to do what you have to do first.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nadal revealed that the lesson is one that he chased throughout his career, which is why many labeled him as a perfectionist. \u201cThe voice has never left me. One day, I can be at the sea. Today, and tomorrow\u2026 I have to practice,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

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Nadal struggled with various ailments throughout his career
\nHe revealed that he struggled with many issues throughout his career, from physical to mental. In recent years, he revealed that he had trouble remaining calm in some matches and that he was disturbed by anxiety.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThankfully, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter paints him as a real person and not the icon that many think of when hearing the name Rafael Nadal. And while it\u2019s sincere about the struggles he faced throughout his career, it also marks a hopeful beginning for Nadal, who\u2019s embarking on a new stage in his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than 30 years, I have given everything I can to this game. In return, I received joy and happiness,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the letter, Nadal addressed some of the highs and lows of his career Rafael Nadal is saying goodbye to his life\u2019s work. The athlete recently retired… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nRafael Nadal pens letter following tennis retirement; 'I went through a very difficult moment, mentally, a few years ago'.. - 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=12789\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rafael Nadal pens letter following tennis retirement; 'I went through a very difficult moment, mentally, a few years ago'.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the letter, Nadal addressed some of the highs and lows of his career Rafael Nadal is saying goodbye to his life\u2019s work. 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