Melbourne: Rafael Nadal on Sunday revealed his battle against chronic pain but said he was hopeful of keeping his Grand Slam career alive as he launches his partnership with new coach Carlos Moya.
Injury-hit Nadal, 30, said he hadn’t played without pain for years but that he remained optimistic of challenging for big titles again.
When asked if he was free of pain and injuries, the Spaniard smiled ruefully and said: “I am not injured, no. Pain-free is a long time ago.”
Nadal hasn’t reached a Grand Slam semi-final since 2014 but after lengthy discussion with his long-time coach, his uncle Toni Nadal, he hired fellow Spaniard Moya in December.
“I am not a person who takes decisions like this,” Nadal said, clicking his fingers. “I need to talk. More than anything, you know, my uncle is my coach.
“He is a person that is decisive in my career, so I need to talk with him before taking any of these decisions. I will never take a decision like this if Toni is not happy with it.”
He added: “He’s (Moya) a person that I practised with during almost all my career since I was 15 until he retired ... It’s not a big deal, no? He is close to my house. He lives in Mallorca, too.”
Nadal, the current world number nine, plays Germany’s Florian Mayer in the first round on Tuesday and is seeded to meet top-rated teenager Alexander Zverev in the third round.
Last year, Nadal lost in the first round at Melbourne Park to compatriot Fernando Verdasco. But he said he wouldn’t be playing if he didn’t think he had a chance of lifting the trophy.
“If I don’t believe that I can be competitive — and when I say ‘competitive’, it’s fighting for the things that I fought for during the last 10 years — I will be probably playing golf or fishing at home,” he said.
“I am being honest about this. If I am here it’s because I believe ... I can fight for the things that really motivate me.”
“Being honest and being realistic, after Roland Garros, the only tournament I played with OK conditions, not 100 per cent conditions, was the US. Open.
“Because (the) Olympics, even if was a great event, I still had a lot of pain on the wrist. Was so difficult to play.” Having added former French Open and Davis Cup winner Carlos Moya to his coaching team, Nadal said that after the setbacks of the last few years he was just happy to be arriving at the season opening grand slam relatively fit and still eager to win.
“I am here. I am enjoying,” he said. “During the last seven months, I played just a couple of matches.
“That’s the real thing. I am playing tennis because I am happy doing what I am doing.
“I am here because I believe.”
— AFP
