by Rafael Nadal is used to spending a lot of time away from home, but admits that this last trip from Mallorca has been particularly uncomfortable.
Nadal is in Paris for the last ATP 1000 Masters event of the season and has aimed to take first place in the year-end standings by finishing with a flourish in the French capital and at the ATP Finals in Turin.
Yet this is also the first time he’s been on a journey as a father and, with honest comments, he admitted that the pain of leaving his son behind is putting him to the test.
“It’s a different approach than usual,” said Nadal, who left the Laver Cup early to make sure he was home in time to be with his wife before giving birth.
“It has always been difficult to leave the house, but this time even more. It’s quite interesting how even after two or three weeks, leaving your child at home and not being able to see him, it’s interesting how even after only three weeks of getting to know him, you start to miss him.
“All changes are difficult in this life and you have to adapt to it.
“It is at the same time true that today we are lucky that, with technology, we can make video calls whenever we want, so this always helps.”
Nadal insisted that he is not focusing his attention on the year-end No. 1 ranking, as his fight with Carlos Alcaraz will be one of the big talking points in tennis in the coming weeks.
“To be clear, I understand this is an interesting point because you are talking about fighting for number 1, but I am no longer fighting to be number 1 in the world,” he added.
“I just fight to stay competitive in every event I play in. It’s something I said a long time ago, I’m not going to fight to be number 1 anymore. I’ve done that in the past.
“I have achieved that goal a couple of times in my career and have been very, very happy and proud to have achieved it. But I’m at a time in my tennis career where I’m not fighting to be number 1.
“It is obvious that when I was number 1 for the first time in my career in 2008, I really wanted to be there because I felt that in 2005, ’06, ’07, including ’08, I was doing amazing results, winning a lot of tournaments, having many points in the ranking system.
“Today is a different story for me. I don’t know how many events I’ve played, like 10, and finished eight. Hard to be number 1 like this. But happy to be in that position that says when I was playing, I was playing well.
“Let’s see at a competitive level how I manage. In older bodies like mine, it’s easier to know how things are going when tournaments are played in a row.
“When you come back from a period out of competition, it is difficult to know how you will play, how your body will respond because it is obvious that the level of the tour is different.”
“I’m just thrilled to be here. I am here to do my best and then accept things as they are coming. I hope to be ready, I will try to be competitive. We see. I’m thrilled “.
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The article Rafael Nadal’s Honest Confession about House-Loving Newborn Son first appeared on Tennis365.com.
