In the wake of his second-round defeat at the Australian Open – his worst grand slam result in seven years – injured Spanish legend Rafael Nadal stood in the centre of Rod Laver Arena and raised his hand in a solemn wave, turning slowly to farewell every corner of the crowd.
Then he bowed his head and grimly trudged up the tunnel.
“You never know what to read into moments like that,” Jim Courier said in commentary on Channel 9.
“You can obviously imagine he will be back, also imagine that he won’t be back.
“This might be the last time here. Let’s hope it’s not. But if it is he certainly left a big mark.”
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For years, Nadal has been battered with questions over his future ‘week after week’, as he said on Saturday.
The 36-year-old, struck down by a hip injury that cruelled any hope of defending his Australian Open title, has always answered with a firm equanimity.
“Destroyed mentally at this time” | 03:35
On Saturday, he said: “The reality is that I’m here to play tennis, try to have a great 2023, fight for everything that I have struggled throughout my career and I don’t think about my retirement.
“You think about it week after week because that’s how you show me at every press conference. But I will answer the same every time you ask me.”
After his defeat on Wednesday evening, a devastated Nadal was not directly asked about retirement. It was too early, perhaps, the defeat too raw.
“I can’t say that I’m not destroyed mentally at this time because I will be lying,” Nadal said. “It’s hard for me.”
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His sad exit from the Australian Open was a seventh defeat from his last nine matches. At 36, another long injury rehabilitation is a devastating prospect.
Nadal said: “I really hope that that (doesn’t) put me out off the court for a long time, because then it’s tough to make all the recovery again. Is not only the recovery. It’s all the amount of work that you need to put together to come back at a decent level.”
He has been here before – time and time again – but always returned to the peak of the mountain. Twelve months ago, he was the champion of Melbourne Park, taking his tally to a whopping 22 grand slam titles.
Now, that victory seems a world away.
“Sometimes it’s frustrating. Sometimes it’s difficult to accept. Sometimes you feel super tired about all this stuff in terms of injuries.”
Nadal lashes out at chair umpire | 00:32
Another gruelling rehabilitation looms – or else, the final farewell that he has turned his back on for so long.
“I went through this process too many times in my career, and I am ready to keep doing (that), I think, but that’s not easy, without a doubt.”
Those two words – ‘I think’ – delivered a rare insight into the Spaniard, a moment of vulnerability far removed from his typical approach towards retirement speculation. There is doubt there, even if the motivation remains the same.
That motivation to fight back from injury upon injury, he said, is: “a very simple thing: I like what I do. I like playing tennis. I know it’s not forever. I like to feel myself competitive. I like to fight for the things that I have been fighting for almost half of my life or even more.
“And that’s it. It’s not that complicated to understand, no? When you like do one thing, at the end, sacrifices always make sense, because the “sacrifice” word is not like this. When you do things that you like to do, at the end of the day, it’s not a sacrifice.
“You are doing the things that you want to do.”
Nadal fought on for over an hour once he returned to the court after his injury treatment – risking further injury along the way. The great gladiator going out on his shield, on his own terms.
“Better like this at the end,” he said — about the match, though he could just as easily have been talking about his career.
He has been fighting for the sport for half his life. Does he have the desire to fight his way back from injury one final time?
“Can’t come here and say, lying, that the life is fantastic and staying positive and keep fighting,” Nadal said. “Not now. Tomorrow starts another day. Now it’s a tough moment.”
