No one – perhaps not even Rafael Nadal himself – can answer the question: Is this it?
But as the great tennis champion returned to the ATP Tour for the first time in over three months last week in Barcelona, the 37-year-old appeared to be treating the event as the beginning of a red-clay-tinged farewell, but one he’d like to see last for a few more months – should his body allow.
“I tried a lot of times in my career [to come back] and it’s true that every time it’s more difficult,” Nadal told TennisTV after a win over 62nd-ranked Flavio Cobolli in Barcelona. “When you are an advanced age, it makes things even tougher. I’m going through tough moments, but at the same time when I am able to be on the tour for a few days and practice with the guys and then be able to compete a little bit, it means a lot to me.
“It’s still enough enjoyable to keep doing it.”
This week (24 April) Nadal heads to another event in his home country with hopes he can take yet another step back toward some of his vintage best tennis, lining up for the Madrid Open,
For Nadal it’s all about each of those steps: In Madrid, then – he hopes – in Rome, in Paris for Roland-Garros and… a few weeks later, the Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024.
“I’m trying to enjoy every moment, and I’m excited to be on court again in a professional tournament,” he told reporters in Barcelona. “That’s what I have been doing all my life, no? I’m just trying to think what’s going on day-by-day, trying to adapt to the situations and try to be able to improve under any circumstances to be a better player.”
