Rafael Nadal: 2018 was great for results, but tough mentally
In the press conference in Rome, following his triumph over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal recalled when he was forced to withdraw from the Indian Wells tournament.
"Was a tough moment, no? After I won that match in quarterfinals against Karen Khachanov, when I came back to the locker room, well, it was a tough moment for me because I know my knee, and I know that something went wrong out there. Of course I wanted to wait till the next morning to see how I wake up. But I see the things is very negative. Yes, that's the worst moment. Then coming back to Mallorca, having to do the treatment, having to do the recovery again, not playing for a couple of weeks, then accept another time that I had to stop. Last year people don't normally remember because I finished No. 2 of the world at the end, but I played nine events. I just completed seven events last year. Have been tough. Mentally, even if I achieved and had a great season, I had to accept inconvenience a lot of times. I had to retire in Australia and then in the US Open, too. Then when I wanted to come back, in Paris happened what happened to my foot. I had to do the surgery. At the beginning of the season have been things all the time. I had to pull out from Brisbane. In Acapulco I had something in the hand that I was not able to play for five days before the tournament start. I recovered. I felt myself playing so well in Indian Wells again. Had to pull out there. Mentally was tough. Too many issues. I needed my time to accept that. But is the last time that I going to talk about all this stuff. That's what happened. Here we are. I worked hard to be where I am, mentally and physically, and in terms of tennis, too. That's the victory. Is the work of every day more than winning titles. The most important victory is the daily work and the motivation to be back."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2HtMrWo
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