Rafael Nadal Has Doubts About His Playing Future

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 22nd February 2014

Rafael Nadal Has Doubts About His Playing Future

epa04087026 Spanish Rafael Nadal serves the ball to Spanish Daniel Gimeno-Traver during their men's single match of the Rio de Janeiro Open tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 18 February 2014. EPA/ANTONIO LACERDA |

As he begins play at the new Rio ATP event, Rafael Nadal cannot hide doubts about his tennis longevity. The world No. 1 got back onto court for the first time since losing the Australian Open final with back pains to Stanislas Wawrinka, taking the first step in his comeback after a three-week pause by advancing to the second round of the South American clay tournament imported from San Jose.

But the 27-year-old Spaniard is clearly concerned about how long his body will hold up under the pounding his aggressive tennis style administers. Unlike Roger Federer, who glides around the court almost as a ballet dancer, or the uber-elastic Novak Djokovic, Nadal can only play the big, bashing game which has taken him to 13 grand slam even titles but which has taken a big toll on his overall fitness.

“We’ll have to see how it goes,” Nadal said of his latest ATP test. “I hope I can tolerate it. In Australia, I lost a good opportunity to add another grand slam. It didn’t happen. My opportunities are not infinite. They have an expiration date.”

Nadal tries not to take notice of predictions that his tennis shelf life is limited by his style. “I heard a lot of times in my career that I will have a shorter career because of my style of game. But I really think it’s something that will not happen. If I stopped today, I already will have more than 11 years on tour.”

“I cannot predict the future for how long I will be here competing well, I can’t say when that’s going to end. The only thing I can say is today I feel happy about what I am doing. I am feeling motivation mentally to keep playing, to keep competing well.”

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Australian Open, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

February 19, 2014 at 10:23 am

Rafael Nadal Has Doubts About His Playing Future – http://t.co/caPj1TVSFx @RafaelNadal #tennis #news #Nadal
solidvolley says:

February 19, 2014 at 10:28 am

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dusanVemic says:

February 19, 2014 at 10:28 am

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prettyembrace says:

February 19, 2014 at 10:31 am

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TennisReporters says:

February 19, 2014 at 10:33 am

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mhatim07 says:

February 19, 2014 at 11:16 am

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clare61365360 says:

February 19, 2014 at 12:08 pm

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