Rafael Nadal on his tics: "I'm not slave of my routine!"

Ready for his seasonal match on the indoor courts in Paris-Bercy, right in the city that gave him the 20th slam a month ago, Rafael Nadal gave a nice interview to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, where he told his life at 360 degrees.

Many topics covered, endless ideas that the left-handed from Manacor gave. At a certain point, a theme was also addressed that very often amuses fans and insiders, but which Rafa has rarely decided to deepen: the addiction to the famous tics that anticipate each of his services.

A real sequence of gestures that have marked every single bat in the Majorcan's career and which have now become part of the collective imagination when it comes to Nadal, so much so that he has deserved the imitations of some characters from the tennis world, including which Novak Djokovic himself. Returning to the specifics of the interview, Rafa was asked if this story of tics was by chance a question of superstition, but Rafa's answer went in another and far more interesting direction.

Behind Rafa's tics hides much more

"I'm not superstitious, otherwise I would change the ritual with each defeat. I'm not even a slave to routine: my life changes all the time, always around, and competition is very different from training. What you call tic is a way to tidy up my head, for me who are normally very messy. They are the means to focus and silence the inner voices. Do not listen to the voice that tells me that I will lose, or the even more dangerous voice that tells me that I will win," replied the 13-times winner at the Roland Garros.

As often happens, Nadal's opinion was also enlightening this time. In fact, behind what would appear to be a simple vice, an almost unconditional reflex or, as some believed, a simple superstition, there is a more complex, almost therapeutic, psychological mechanism.

Nadal will be back on the pitch this week at Bercy, not only stimulated by the idea of ​​using this showcase to train in view of the last and never won seasonal appointment in London, but also by the concrete possibility of reaching Nole Djokovic in the calculation of 1000 masters earned in career. Nole reached 36 in Rome, Rafa follows him hungry for new records.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3oVVBPu