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Our champ expressed gratitude for his career and the opportunities it provided. \u201cThe most important thing is that I\u2019ve been lucky enough to be able to do what I was passionate about from a young age. It started out as a hobby and it was a very important part of my life and that\u2019s the most important thing to me. Thanks to tennis I\u2019ve been able to have experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life. So all I can do is be grateful to my sport, to life, and to all the people that have helped me or stepped into my life at some point!\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite stepping away from professional tennis, Rafa acknowledged that he is still adapting to life without the routine of competition. \u201cNow I\u2019m slightly in pain, I\u2019m honestly not pushing myself. I\u2019m living with very little pain and that\u2019s very important to me. In the end, getting up and walking down the stairs normally is huge progress for me in my daily life, being able to live with the peace of not being in too much pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just retired, three months ago, and changes take time. For me personally, I had respect for what the change would be, but I\u2019m very happy in this new stage of my life. We\u2019ll take it day by day, there are a lot of things to get used to and, in some ways, I have to discover what I\u2019m really motivated to do in this new life. I\u2019m confident it will also be exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking with reporter Sergio Heredia from La Vanguardia, Rafa was asked whether he had picked up a racket since retiring and about his son, Rafa Junior.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t picked up a racket again. I will at some point, but since that farewell in M\u00e1laga (November 20), I have only played a little with my son at home. I am just trying to organize myself outside of what has been sports. Without meaning to, I already have a lot of work commitments that I can\u2019t avoid, but I need some time to decide what I want to do, beyond what I must do because it is inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if his son Rafa Junior plays tennis with his right or left hand, our champ responded with a smile. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t play with either hand at the moment. He does what he can\u2014sometimes he plays football, other times golf, other times tennis. He plays, he\u2019s a child.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Monday, Rafael Nadal was honored with the Extraordinary Trophy at the Gran Gala of Mundo Deportivo in Barcelona. He opened up about his transition away from… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\n