When we talk about Rafael Nadal, it could be thought, although without many foundations, that the arrival of his first child, on October 8, would lead him to reconsider, to take the final leg of a career that still does not stop producing spectacular things more calmly. results. Competitive animal where they exist, the current number 2 in the world faces 2023 as if time did not walk by his side, willing to battle “until the body or mind say enough”, as he stated a few weeks ago in Mexico, the country he visited during the tour of Latin America with his colleague and friend Casper Ruud.
The body has wanted to say enough is enough on too many occasions. The most serious in the year that is ending was the recurrence of his chronic left foot injury, which did not prevent him from winning his fourteenth Roland Garros after having risen to 21 Grand Slam titles with the amazing victory against Daniil Medvedev in the final of the Australian Open. Once the problem was solved, at least for the moment, thanks to the wisdom of Dr. Ángel Ruiz-Cotorro, others of lesser importance arose, such as that abdominal tear that stopped his pristine career in the greats at Wimbledon and conditioned the second part of the course.
“My 2023 season begins tomorrow. I have to continue working to have options next year,” he proclaimed in Turin in November, after losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime and being eliminated in the group stage of the ATP Finals. “I have not forgotten how to play tennis, I need to recover good feelings and a strong mentality to be at the level I want to be, I don’t know if I will be able to recover, but I have no doubt that I am going to die for it,” he continued.
Rafa Nadal Stand Up Against Novak Djokovic Without An Expiration Date
Each of his appearances before the media when we traveled to the Italian city to follow the last tournament of the course had a certain aroma of melancholy. Nadal does not know or want to know when he will decide to retire, but given that he will turn 37 on July 3, and with a long history of body damage behind him, he is aware that he cannot have much longer in The circuit.
Rafa Nadal is not the only hero of the Golden Age of Spanish sport who refuses to go to the beach and faces a key course in 2023. At 41, Fernando Alonso once again changes teams in his battle against time and Aston Martin will be the one to try to help him return to victories, something that Alpine was not able to bring about. The driver has shown that he is still elite, he lacks the car. If this next season is not a good one either, how much energy will the Asturian have left to continue showing off his talent in the middle of the table? Are you sure it pays off?
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We lived through such incredible years at the beginning of the century that nothing that has come after seems enough to us. The idols have been leaving in recent years while we were more concerned with looking for heirs than firing them as they deserved. Who is still active?
In football, Ramos continues at a high level at PSG and Busquets undoes the daisy on whether to speed up his time at Barça or face a comfortable early retirement in the US in the style of the one Iniesta still lives in Japan. In basketball, Marc Gasol is player-president at Girona while Rudy, Llull, and Sergio Rodríguez give lessons in small doses at Real Madrid. Only Ricky Rubio, about to return from his umpteenth serious injury, continues in the NBA. Even Marc Márquez, much younger, is facing a key year to see if it makes sense to continue. In 2023 several of them will leave it. Let’s enjoy them as they deserve before it’s too late.