In December of 2019, Nadal also touched on other topics that have been paramount in his tennis career: the art of suffering and sacrifice, for one, and his rivalry with Roger Federer. But, just as it was in countless interviews over more than two decades, Nadal also delivered his answered with thoughtful perspective.
“We … know that this is a game,” Nadal said. “And there are many other things in life that are more important than a game, than a match. And of course, there have been some moments with more tension. But like everything else in life, both [Roger] and myself, we had very clearly in our minds that the human relations are more important than the tennis rivalry.”
And through it all, Nadal said, and all the ups and downs, the Spaniard said he wouldn’t have changed a thing.
“I never felt that what I was doing was a sacrifice,” Nadal told Wertheim through a Spanish interpreter. “I trained, yes. I have worked very hard, at the maximum, yes. But I have enjoyed every single thing.
“For me, a sacrifice means that you are doing the things that you don’t like doing. But I have done all of the things I enjoy doing.”
