Rafael Nadal reveals he considered ‘saying goodbye’ to tennis last year

Rafael Nadal has revealed that during some of the lowest points of his six-month injury layoff last year he had conversations with his team and family about the possibility that he may have to “say goodbye” to tennis.

Following his 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Matteo Berrettini on Friday to reach his sixth Australian Open final, Nadal spoke candidly about the uncertainty surrounding his future prior to his return to competition. “I went through a lot of challenging moments, a lot of days of hard work without seeing a light there,” said the 35-year-old. “But still working and still receiving plenty of support from my team and from my family, too, without a doubt. A lot of conversations with the team, with the family about what can happen or what gonna happen if the things continue like this, thinking that maybe is a chance to say goodbye.”

Following the loss of his French Open title in June, Nadal was forced to spend the best part of half a year away from the tour due to a recurrence of a long-standing foot injury which he has suffered from since childhood. The Spaniard attempted to compete at the Citi Open in Washington in August but pulled the plug on his season shortly afterwards.

“For a long time I wasn’t able to practice,” said Nadal. “Sometimes I went on court and I was able to practice 20 minutes, sometimes 45, sometimes zero, sometimes two hours, but have been very, very rough in terms of imagine myself playing at the best-of-five at this moment.”

Asked about how tough the past few months have been, Nadal noted that his issues do not compare to the loss people around he world have suffered during the pandemic. “Of course my months are not tough at all comparing to a lot of families that lost a lot of people,”