It is closed night in London, on the eighth of November, just four days before the ATP Finals starts at the colossal O2 Arena, the tournament that brings an end to the tennis season and the only one that Rafael Nadal is missing. (Manacor, 1986) in his already extensive track record.
He reaches the last tournament on the calendar as outstanding number one in the world after an excellent year, in which he has recovered his best tennis and has lifted six titles, including his 10th Roland Garros and his third US Open.
In a room of a luxurious hotel on the banks of the River Thames, and shortly before a Cosentino event, a brand for which he is an ambassador, Rafa attends EFE.
He wears jeans and a spotless light blue shirt and elegant dark blue shoes with shades of white. Before sitting down, she adjusts the watch on her left hand and throws her hair back, still wet from a short time before training.
Roger Federer, the ambition to win his first ATP Finals, his resurrection in 2017, the project of his academy in Manacor or the controversy that arose around the new shirt of the Spanish team: the 16 ‘big’ champion does not elude any question . He talks about all this for EFE.
Ask. First of all, how is the knee?
Answer: ‘The knee is fine. I hope you are good. We have been working very hard to get it back and now is the time to test yourself. We will train at the O2 to see how it goes in these next few days ».
Q. Is your participation in the ATP Finals in London safe?
A: «Sure in this life there are few things; unfortunately only one. But if I am here, in London, it is to play. If not, I would not have come and made another calendar. He wouldn’t be extending the season if he didn’t think he could be competitive and be there to play. I am here to try to win the tournament. That is my illusion and my motivation and work to make it happen.
P. The ATP Finals is the only great title that is missing from your record. You fell in the final in 2010 and 2013, are those defeats an extra motivation?
R. «Neither the defeats nor the victories give me more motivation. What has happened in previous years does not influence what will happen this year, and my illusion in each of the tournaments that I play is to give my best and to try to do it in the best possible way. Sometimes it turns out better and sometimes it turns out worse, but when I go out to play tennis in any tournament I try to do my best ».
Q. He has been drawn into Group A together with Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin, and makes his debut on Monday against the Belgian. Is it a simple group a priori?
A: «Look, just like in big tournaments and in Grand Slam, you are aware of the draw more than necessary, since, depending on how it touches you, you can open or close the box more, here you know that you play against all eight best of the year. Few gaps you have.
You know the draw is going to be good or bad depending on how you are playing. And you also know that either you are 100% from the beginning or if not it is almost impossible (to do it well) because you play against the best. From there, you have to try to do your best to make this happen.
Q. Your old friend Roger Federer leads Group B, which also includes Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic and Jack Sock. Do you see yourself playing the final against him?
A: «I’m here to try to reach the final and try to win it. And if it is against Roger Federer, much better.
P. There are many new faces in the Masters this year: Zverev, Dimitrov and Sock debut and there are neither Andy Murray, champion last year, nor Novak Djokovic, nor Stan Wawrinka. Is there a change in the cycle in the circuit?
A: «Surely they are here to stay. In the end, our generation, at one point, is going to end. There will come a time when we will see young people on TV and we will not confront them. And then more and more will come. Young people are good, and I think a generation of high level is coming.
However, it is also true that missing a few players who have been injured, such as Andy or Novak, has benefited those young people. We are in a somewhat special Masters, with some new players, such as Zverev or Sock. Although it is true that the new generation is practically only Zverev ».
P. Arrives in London after lifting six titles, including his tenth Roland Garros and his third US Open. If you win the Masters, would this be the best year of your professional career?
R. «It has been a fantastic season, especially after where we come from, but I don’t think it was my best year. It has been an exciting season, in which the tennis and in which I have been able to be competitive in practically all the tournaments in which I have participated. And that makes me happy.
I was able to be healthy until the incident in Paris and, for me, at this point in my career, the important thing is to be happy doing what I do. This year I have been happy and I hope I can continue to do so for a few more years. Of course, I don’t think it was the best season of my career ».
P. He has had a demanding season and in 2018 he turns 32 years old. Do you see Federer, perhaps, as an example, when it comes to cutting tournaments and better selecting the calendar?
R. «No two people are the same: neither Federer trains like me nor does he have the same schedule as me; not even I, perhaps, can have the same calendar as him. Because things that work for one don’t work for another. Everyone has to make their own way and, obviously, it is important to see what happens around and see the things that are done well and the things that are not done well.
In this world, inventing is very difficult and copying is easier, so you have to try to copy the things of others that you think will go well for you. We will see what happens in the future. I don’t know if Federer’s schedule is feasible for me. I am going to do what my mind and my body ask of me, which is what I have done all my life.
Q. You are very involved in your academy, the ‘Rafa Nadal Academy’. How important is it to you to have a project that feels yours?
R. «It is a very important project for me, as it is something of mine. On an emotional level it is also emotional, since it is a sports center where there are several business units. The first is an academy attended by boys from all over the world to try to perfect their tennis and develop as tennis players and as human beings.
We also have an American school within the academy and a medical center. We have all the facilities that a child needs and much more. I already wish I had all those facilities when I was young.
The reality is that having a center where the people of the town, the people of Manacor and the region, can come and spend the afternoons in the gym, in the spa, doing sports and playing tennis, paddle tennis, or whatever, it makes me happy. It is a very important project also on a social level: we have the museum, and a large part of its benefits go to my Foundation. It is a project that has been done with great enthusiasm and it is a very important part of my present and even more important of my future ».
Q. As a football fan and a firm supporter of the Spanish team, what do you think of all the controversy caused by the new shirt?
R. «Honestly, there comes a time since they are absurd debates. Everything becomes a circus and I don’t want to participate in it. The shirt, whatever it is, doesn’t matter; the only thing that matters is that Spain is prepared to play a World Cup at the highest level.
We have a young and exciting team and this is the only thing that matters to me personally. Everything else is circuses. In the end we come to a certain moment in which we make a circus out of a simple T-shirt ». EFE