Two years after his last participation, Rafael Nadal returns to the Caja Mágica in Madrid. He does it in anomalous circumstances, outside the pools to win the title and in search of the necessary filming to be able to complete the tour on clay in Paris. It won’t be easy: “Right now, I wouldn’t play at Roland Garros.” The 37-year-old Mallorcan tennis player has only been able to play five matches this season and the physical progress experienced in Barcelona has been followed by a few days of ups and downs in the Caja Mágica. The champion of 22 majors, then, does not have it all with him, although his connection with the Madrid tournament moves him to a last parade through the San Fermín center.
“I face it with enthusiasm, basically. It’s always special for me to play here, because the support I’ve received I probably haven’t had anywhere else in the world. I look forward to playing here one more time. The week has been good in some ways, and not in others. I don’t think he’s ready to play 100%, but he’s ready to go out and play tomorrow. [contra el joven Darwin Blanch], and for me that is important. Being able to play one last time here means a lot,” she said. And when asked repeatedly about whether it was the last time he would play in front of the Madrid public, he answered: “Yes, I think so.”
Regarding his evolution, he cast doubt on his presence at Roland Garros, starting on May 26. Unlike the more optimistic speech given in Barcelona, this time Nadal was more forceful. Today, he doesn’t see it clearly. The discomfort persists and the horizon is unknown.
“The ideal thing would be to be able to play and not have many limitations. Whatever happens, I don’t care. The sensations of the week have not been perfect. Maybe I wouldn’t go out to play tomorrow, but it’s Madrid and many things are mixed on an emotional level that lead me to go out and play. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up anything in the coming weeks. It is not an upward process in a straight line,” she noted.
And he resolved: “I don’t know what will happen in the next three weeks; I am going to do what I can do to be able to play in Paris and if it is possible, it is possible; If not, I’m not going to play as I am today; I’m only going to go out and play if I feel capable enough to compete. I am going to give myself maximum opportunities to do so and if not, maximum satisfaction. The world does not end with Roland Garros. It doesn’t mean that if I don’t play, everything will end there. “I’m not going to do anything more than what I feel capable of doing at the moment.”
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