Nadal’s goal to be top dad, not No. 1 player
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Rafael Nadal is currently second in the ATP rankings behind fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
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PARIS – Rafael Nadal, who makes his return to the court at the Paris Masters after a two-month break, insisted on Tuesday that he was no longer fighting to be world No. 1.
“I just fight to keep being competitive in every event that I play,” said Nadal, currently second in the ATP rankings behind fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
Nadal, winner of 92 ATP singles titles including a men’s record 22 Grand Slams, has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks of his glittering career and has finished as the year-end No. 1 on five occasions. “I will not fight any more to be No. 1,” he said.
“I did in the past. I achieved that goal a couple of times in my career and I have been very, very happy and proud about achieving that.
“But I am in a moment of my tennis career that I don’t fight to be No. 1.”
Nadal took on American Tommy Paul first up in the French capital, where he has won a record 14 French Open titles. The result of their match on Wednesday was not available at press time.
“I’m happy to be on the tour again after a while,” the 36-year-old added. “I was not able to play much the last five months (due to injury).
“So, yeah, always happy to be back in a city that everybody knows how important is for me, even if it’s true that, at the same time that in this (Masters) event, I never had a lot of positive things in my career.”
Nadal, who has reached only one ATP 1000 Paris final in 2007, said it had been “tough” to leave home and his three-week-old son, and also played down concerns over his fitness. “Let’s see on the competitive level how I manage,” he said.
“In older bodies like my one, it’s easier to know how the things are going when you are playing tournaments in a row.
“When you are coming back from a period of time outside of competition, it’s difficult to know... how your body is going to respond because it’s obvious that the tour level is different.”
The world No. 1 may not be on his mind, but being a No. 1 dad is.
“It’s quite interesting how, even after (knowing him only) two or three weeks, leaving your son at home and not be able to see him... you start missing him,” Nadal added. “We are lucky today that, with the technology, everything, we can do video calls any time that you want.” AFP
