The King of Clay takes time to reflect on his incredible success at Roland Garros.
After his victory over Roger Federer on Friday in Paris improved his all-time record in Roland Garros semi-finals to 12-0, Rafael Nadal was asked how he felt about his incredible achievements in Paris, and the fact that he might double the great Bjorn Borg in all-time titles. His answer gave us all a glimpse into his humble outlook on life and in tennis, and also some insight into how he manages to stay hungry despite the fact that he has already broken every record that there is to break on a clay court and at Roland Garros.
“[It] is incredible, being honest, no?” said Nadal as a roomful of reporters laughed. “Is something very special and difficult to explain, but here we are.”
It may be incredible—mind-blowing might be a better description—but Nadal says he doesn’t have time to think about it. Certainly not right now, as he prepares to battle in Sunday's final, where he could win a record 12th Roland Garros title.
“The day that we start thinking about if it's incredible or not probably will be the day to do another thing,” he said. “So what I have to do today is not think about if it's incredible, because it's a real thing for me.”
Nadal says he has chosen to ignore the success so that he can train his mind to pursue more of it. Even if all of his greatest trophies are kept at his Academy in Mallorca, where he frequently visits and trains, for Nadal, they are out of sight and out of mind.
“Even if it's something I never dreamed about five, six, eight years ago, it's happening today,” he said. “And my goal is just try to keep going. Is not about have excess of ambition but is about just try to keep enjoying the things that I am doing.”
Nadal says there will be time to reflect on when he’s struck his last forehand in anger and hung up his racquets for the last time.
“I hope to have a lot of time to think about it when I stop my tennis career,” he said. “Today is about just enjoying the day today. Of course it have been a very important achievement for me. Being in final of Roland Garros again means a lot again and especially coming back from not an easy situation for all the injuries that I had. Being able to recover the level that I had the last couple of weeks is something that I am very proud of.
“And I am just focused on keep going and keep doing my thing well.”
