Look at Daddy, he's ready for a video.
-Look, he's ready to record. -Papa.
High five! High five!
Here we are. Are we here in the shot?
Now, we have to be very quiet. Very quiet.
-Start talking about the sport. -"The sport has given me a lot…"
"And that's why…"
-And add… -And now's the time…
Yeah. It's the right time. Actually, the right time.
I know there's never a right time.
Hello, everyone.
Well, I'm here to…
let you all know something that I've been thinking about…
for a long time.
My career has been
longer and way more successful than I could have ever imagined.
But everything has a beginning
and an end.
It's a decision that takes time.
It's a decision…
Okay, let's start again.
Yeah.
-It wasn't too bad? -We can use it.
It's tough, I know.
And then you have to end with, "I leave in peace."
Mm.
Right?
Papa.
It came to our attention today
that Rafa Nadal will be coming back to the courts,
the first week of 2024.
-Hello? -Babe, how are you?
-Hi. Say, "Hi, Daddy." -Buddy!
-Rafelet. -We just made a fresh poop.
-If you wanna smell it, you can. -No, thanks.
Nope, no, no. Not a chance, no way.
Hello?
Hey!
Papa. Papa.
Hey!
Over a year without winning a title, 652 in the world,
about to turn 38.
It's becoming harder to believe,
to have faith in what will happen with Rafa,
but I still think that…
Everything okay with your meals?
I've been slipping a bit.
-With what? -Chocolate related.
-Chocolate again? If you can avoid that… -It's just a bad habit, really.
Because, when I don't eat any chocolate,
and I have Alpro's strawberry yogurt, which I love, I feel satisfied.
And I feel much better.
All right, go back to Alpro's strawberry yogurt.
-Okay, I have some at home. -Great.
I've been with Rafa for 18 years.
Basically, every day.
He's become like a brother to me.
Right now, I think he's going through a moment of uncertainty.
Two years ago, he was winning Grand Slams.
I guess some people would say, "Why extend your career
if you can retire when you're still at the top?"
Thing is, Rafa always thinks he can perform.
No!
The eyes of the world on a sporting comeback begins in Brisbane.
Rafael Nadal's 2024
is going to be scrutinized more than any other year.
Go Rafa!
Good morning. How are you?
Gone through injury problems many, many times in your career.
How's the body now?
The hip 100%? Is the foot still an ongoing problem?
Talk to me a little bit about that process of rehab and surgery.
You're a champion! Legend! You're a legend!
At 37, the obvious question,
how long can this ultimate competitor stay competitive?
We're gettin' there.
People are surprised every time he comes back.
I'm no longer surprised 'cause I've seen it many times.
After all these years,
I have realized that he's made from a different mold.
From Spain, making his return to the sport,
please make welcome Rafael Nadal!
I have trained every day of this last year
in hopes of achieving something important.
I'd like to be competitive again at Roland-Garros.
I'm aware this is going to be very hard.
But you can't be a great champion
if you don't do things that are truly difficult.
I look at this matchup and I say Andy Roddick is going against
a… a young player in Rafael Nadal.
A teenager, playing the number 2 player in the world.
This is something else.
And this is a huge moment for Nadal.
Let's go! Come on, Sevilla!
The Davis Cup is the World Cup of tennis.
We are talking about a competition
that had an incredible reputation.
It was an opportunity to represent Spain and play for the national team.
With the largest number of fans that had ever been at a tennis match.
I've been here since 2:30 p.m.
I feel like I'm about to cry, I'm gonna shed some tears.
Because I'm excited, you know?
On paper, the Spanish team has everything at hand to be the favorite.
They play at home…
But the tournament has just begun
and we have the big upset that Juan Carlos Ferrero won't be playing.
His place will be taken by Rafa Nadal as number 2 on the Spanish team.
I was very surprised.
Up until then, I was basically unknown.
I'm playing for Spain, to win a Davis Cup, which is unbelievable.
This made me very nervous.
I was ranked 50th,
and I was playing against the number 2 in the world.
Number 2 in the world.
Davis Cup was a massive deal.
I remember when I got the call the first time to just be on the team.
To, like, even mess around with putting an 18-year-old kid in right then.
It's like, it doesn't… It was… it was a ballsy call.
What is the atmosphere like in the Spanish team?
I think, uh, we are very…
Sorry.
Moyá, come here. He speaks English very well.
When the captains said that Rafa was gonna play,
I was a bit… shocked
about what that could mean for the… for the team.
But I try to make him feel that I'm calm and confident.
"Yeah, of course, if the captains have made this decision,
I'm sure that you'll do well, that you'll win", and blah, blah, blah.
To me, it was reassuring to know
that the number 1 player on the team was okay with the decision.
But on the inside… we all had doubts.
The Davis Cup final. 27,200 spectators.
Andy Roddick is the favorite. I expect him to win.
He loves these big-type situations.
Roddick getting on the board
with that ace right there, his first.
Being in this big a situation,
with someone experiencing it for the first time,
I wanted to try to intimidate him.
Roddick's bringing the heat on the serve.
Roddick leading in the first set.
Rafael Nadal about to serve here.
Nadal does not have a big serve, as you can see.
He missed it.
I was nervous at first.
I couldn't find a way to hurt him at all.
Roddick is as tough as nails.
It's a careless mistake at a moment like that.
The first set has gone to the United States of America.
Just imagine.
The whole country watching.
It's your opportunity.
Doubts creep in.
Can he take the pressure?
Can Rafa turn this around?
Of course, this situation was really tough for me to manage emotionally.
But the truth is that a little extra pressure
has always been good for me.
Little by little, I think I was getting closer to his level.
The momentum seems to be with Nadal at the moment.
I thought he was dead, but he's very much alive.
Fighting, sweating, struggling, running from side to side.
That's it! What a way to move by Rafa Nadal!
It takes two to make a great match.
And this is what is developing here.
I walked off thinking, "This is gonna be a fight."
I remember that the third set was crucial.
Key.
The longer a rally went, the worse it was for me.
He had this sustained intensity.
But Rafa is there! There he is! Looks good! It's in! It's in!
I'd say, "Rafa, calm down."
"Don't go jumping after every point you win."
"You need all of your energy."
But that's impossible with Rafa. He's so passionate.
27,200 people are on their feet.
The chair umpire is trying to get them to, uh, cool it.
Nadal is trying to get the crowd to quieten down.
Until that moment, I kind of didn't believe it.
But the way I was playing,
the inspiration my team had given me,
and the atmosphere…
I believed I was going to win the match.
Now he has match point.
That is an absolutely brilliant performance.
Against world number 2. What a moment for Nadal!
In your career, there are moments that make you grow,
as a person and tennis player.
Rafa! Rafa! Rafa!
To me, the awakening of the beast, of the Rafa we'd later come to know,
happened in the match with Roddick.
Rafa! Rafa!
That's when we realized…
who Rafa is.
That's not a bad start.
Yes!
Does not have the look of a man that's been out for a year.
Also doesn't look like a man who's 37.
He hasn't lost those finishing touches, has he?
What a performance that was from Rafael Nadal!
Come here.
Let's see what's next. You put on a show out there.
Rafelet, where is… Mom?
Oh! What are you saying?
Where is Momma?
There! Right!
Where is… Dad?
That's right!
Where is Rafelet?
Here.
Oh, no, not yet.
Say "Papa."
"Papa."
I've seen many of my son's matches.
I've seen him win trophies, and…
all the pressure that goes with it, all of it.
But I've been thinking about it, and I realized that
pressure is not when you compete.
Pressure is what you have to endure in order to get to compete.
Official celebrations have begun
after Spain's victory in the Davis Cup.
I want to thank you all for showing up
and for the support you've given us every day.
After the Davis Cup, what is the goal you've set for yourself?
We'll see. The goal is to be among the top 20 next year.
I think everybody who followed tennis was watching Rafa at the start of '05.
Especially on clay.
He was ranked in the fifties at that point.
Hello and welcome to the Monte-Carlo Country Club.
The first major clay court event of the year.
In clay court tennis, everything happens in a very tight window.
Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome…
All in less than two months.
And that's a straight lead-up to Roland-Garros,
the big clay Grand Slam tournament.
So, sure, he won the Davis Cup,
but he still had to prove something to the world.
Look at the hands of Nadal.
Come on!
I remember thinking, "Nobody has played tennis like this."
He had this precocious physicality…
For sure, he is going to be the player to beat
in the European clay court season.
No one had ever played like him, no one had ever dressed like him.
I've become accustomed to the strange dress that he wears.
-Pirate pants, that's what he calls them. -Well, there you are.
And he wears that shirt with no sleeves. We can see the rippling muscles.
I don't blame him. If I had muscles like that,
I'd be wearing a sleeveless shirt too.
I'd be going without a shirt at all.
But, with him, it was sort of cool.
He's this strong,
and he's got this huge game already at such a young age.
An incredible sprint by Nadal.
All sort of went to this theme of,
"This is not a tennis player like you know tennis players."
He is whipping through the ball.
Huge amount of top spin.
His forehand was just crazy.
He hits the ball harder, he hits it with more spin.
That level of spin and power, again and again…
That was something new.
You'll see him be the best in the world with his left hand in tennis.
But, off the court, he's actually right-handed.
Which is insanely offensive for people who aren't as athletic as he is.
Now, take that where you're able to slide.
And each foot feels like a dominant foot.
You know, he's end-to-end, like eight or nine feet on both sides.
So he's literally shrinking the court on you.
Nadal.
Nadal strikes terror into the hearts of all opponents.
Today, there was no denying him.
This young champion here
is just setting the courts of the world on fire.
It's quite remarkable what he's achieved already.
Charisma, grit, strength.
Nadal has brushed his rivals off the courts so far this year.
Rafa!
Has anything changed in your life these past weeks
because of all the fame?
No, no. The only change is…
that I haven't been home in 33 days, so…
That's the only thing that's changed.
Nothing else. I'm still the same.
I hope I still have the same friends when I get home.
-You're happier now? -…The same family.
I told him, "You've had your standout performance this year,
so don't put any pressure on yourself."
Allora. He's going to make a serve to the Vatican, okay?
Bravo!
He never said, "That's enough."
It was the others who said, "Enough, okay, that's enough."
And he'd say, "No, a little more."
He was playing so much tennis.
And I'm thinking, "How much does he have left in the tank?"
Oh, what a shot at such a moment.
Exactly five hours we've been playing. What a match!
Is it possible, being so young
and having already reached such a high level as he has,
that he runs the risk of burning out?
No, I don't think so.
We trained all our lives with a clay court mentality.
Which means you have to get your socks dirty.
You have to be willing to run and fight.
This forced him to have great intensity.
He won Rome in grand style.
And after that, he came into Paris and it was all eyes on Rafa.
Welcome to Roland-Garros. The French Open kicks off today.
The young "pistolero" with the devastating forehand
is favorite to win the tournament.
This is his first participation.
Being told I'm the favorite at every press conference bothers me.
Because, then I end up believing it and I push myself too hard.
Even Boris Becker said you're the favorite today in The Times.
He says you're going to win.
Come on, seriously?
Well, it's because…
I just asked you not to tell me that, and you just did it.
How did it feel your first time playing at Roland-Garros?
So, I feel, I feel good. I…
Wait, it's just that…
They're talking to me at the same time that I'm talking.
Any Spanish questions?
Game, Nadal.
Will you celebrate your birthday in Paris?
Or maybe I'll be in Mallorca, fishing.
Game, set, match, Nadal!
His first time participating in Roland-Garros.
Rafael Nadal will play the final against the Argentinean Mariano Puerta.
Number 5 in the world, from Spain, Rafael Nadal!
Rafael Nadal walks on court
ready to finish what many have claimed to be his destiny,
to win the French Open championship.
I was nervous.
For a kid who had just turned 19 the day before,
to go and win a Grand Slam.
To win Roland-Garros, to me, was everything at the time.
What I remember of that final is that I never got tired.
Wherever the ball went, I'd get there.
And if I had to slide three meters, I'd get there.
This feeling gives you incredible self-confidence.
I felt free.
As if…
there were… no tomorrow.
Nadal has won the match and Roland-Garros!
In his first appearance here in Paris, Rafa has done it.
At age 19,
Rafael Nadal truly is the best clay court player in the world.
-Let's go! -That's it!
He's attacking you on the right.
If you can't get out of there, hit it hard.
-Got it. -Come on.
What's wrong?
I've been feeling a pinch near my hip since the surgery.
Right. But does it sting, does it hurt? Does it?
-Well, it's not terrible, but… -Your muscle's gotten a little strained.
-It hurts a little. -Okay. Got it.
Don't lean forward so much during the serve. More towards you.
The hip?
Yeah, he's feeling something. He's feeling some pain in his left side.
-Yeah? From surgery? -Yeah, but I think that's normal.
-Let's see how it goes. -Yeah.
Come on, let's go! Stay positive. Come on!
Fault!
It looks like Nadal is in some discomfort.
If you can't go anymore, it's fine.
Come on, Nadal!
-Out! -Game, set, and match. Thompson.
I was suffering. I was in pain and worried about getting injured.
-It was hurting a lot. -Of course, Rafa. Why didn't you stop?
-Well… -I know it didn't get any worse.
No, but if I stop… then what?
In the end, I'd have to stop every two days.
No, man.
That's not it, but you… you have to take it slowly.
Even with a win today, what for?
You know?
In the basement of failures
there's always one more floor.
Hi, Mom.
Hi, sweetie. Are you okay?
I don't know. We'll see. You know.
You don't know? Are you in pain?
A little bit.
Do you think it's serious?
Does it matter? I don't know if it's serious or not, Mom.
I really don't know. It's not too bad. I don't know, honestly.
Is it the same side where you had the surgery?
Yes, yeah, kinda.
I hope to…
to be practicing next week and to play Melbourne.
But, uh, honestly, I am not 100% sure of anything now.
Nadal!
2005 was my first year of great success.
But…
in Madrid, that's when it started… all the problems.
I think it was during the fourth set. I felt like a…
in my foot.
But I thought it was nothing serious because I was able to keep playing well,
without limitations.
Champion, Rafa Nadal. Incredible! Another achievement for Nadal!
…6-3, 6-4, 7-6.
I could tell there was a problem.
Don't ask me how, but I remember it clearly.
I didn't think too much of it.
I thought, "Maybe with a few days of rest, it'll go away."
It was a very tough match. My legs are pretty sore,
but I don't think it'll be a problem for Shanghai.
Are you looking forward to playing in Shanghai?
Yeah, it's obviously a very important tournament because…
it's the top eight, right?
My foot hurt. It hurt a lot.
But, you know, my thought was…
"Let's give it a try."
At that time, Federer was number 1.
And I wanted to play against him.
It's very easy to see when Rafa's not at 100 %.
But Rafa always wants to play.
Even if he's at 50 %, he wants to play.
It's not easy,
when everything is going well, and you're winning so much,
to say "Stop."
We went to the hospital in Shanghai.
They did an MRI and they told me…
"Your navicular bone is broken."
What do you know about Nadal?
Oh! I don't know too much.
-I'll talk to you later. -Okay, I'll see you later.
-Is he going to pull out? -I think he has, hasn't he?
Hello, yeah. I think that's natural.
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the tournament.
He was putting so much into each rally
and putting his body in extreme positions.
Just like a rubber band that you stretch and stretch,
eventually, it's gonna break.
He's writing checks that I hope his body can cash for a long time.
Well, there were, of course, people who gave their opinion.
I would hear them and think, "What do they know?"
How do they know what the future holds?
I thought, "Okay, my foot's broken, I guess it'll heal."
I went back home to get some rest, but…
it didn't get better. Time passed and nothing changed.
I tried to play again but I just couldn't.
It kept hurting.
We began to get worried.
We ran tests to see how his foot was doing,
and the foot was just as injured as day one.
XRAY FEET
We realized that he had a chronic disease in the navicular bone.
Turns out, he had Müller-Weiss syndrome.
It's a very rare disease.
We gathered everything written about it.
In all the cases we saw from all over the world,
there wasn't a single case dealing with an elite athlete.
So, that's when we consulted with a specialist, Dr. Maceira.
The first time I saw Rafa,
he just looked very scared.
The Müller-Weiss disease was not well-known at the time.
To suffer from Müller-Weiss syndrome,
you have to have a certain foot structure, which is inherited.
It's the bone that will eventually become the foot's arch.
And it's caused by abnormal forces acting on a bone that is not fully developed.
I would guess that at around the age of four or five,
he started doing intense physical activity before his bone was fully matured.
He started at a very young age.
As a kid, he would stay out and play tennis for three hours,
without a problem.
I had to go to the tennis club and say,
"We have to go, because he has to shower, have dinner, and all that."
Because if I didn't, he would've been competing 24 hours a day,
one way or another, you know?
In other words,
Rafa had this disease because he's Rafa Nadal.
In most cases, the treatment for this disease would be surgery.
It all seemed very complicated.
Cutting bones and…
trying to change the position of the foot.
Dr. Maceira said,
"Maybe you won't be able to play tennis at a professional level ever again."
My world, at that moment,
was falling apart.
This really was a tough time.
I remember how he was sitting there, leaning against the wall,
crying.
"What for?"
Thinking "Why should I suffer like this?"
Can you just scroll through them?
Okay.
So, what we can see is a strain of the iliopsoas.
This time, up in the pelvis.
You can see this white, this bright signal,
so that's muscle strain inside the pelvis.
So, I think this is a grade I to II sort of strain,
because there's a bit of hemorrhage coming, um, superficial to the muscle…
Damn, man.
Well, then, uh… what did they say in there, more or less?
That I have a grade I or grade II injury.
What's the difference from grade I to grade II?
-How serious it is. -Yeah…
-Yes, but is it… -Grade I is…
Fucked up?
Yeah.
Yup. That's right. Can we go now?
-Sure. -Thanks.
Uh, fuck.
I'm devastated, man.
I'm destroyed.
We're all talking about tennis today
because Rafa Nadal just announced that he will not participate
in the first Grand Slam of the year, which starts Monday in Australia.
The Majorcan hasn't fully recovered from the injury he had last October,
and doesn't want to rush things.
This time, honestly, I truly saw him completely devastated.
In his mind, he hadn't planned for anything other than…
playing tennis.
Obviously, I was devastated.
But my father is a very positive person.
When I was crying all the time, he'd come and…
console me.
I just said, "There's always one more rabbit in the hat"
"Just don't lose hope."
The person who took the bull by the horns was Sebastián,
the father.
He did that.
He took us from one doctor, to the next, to the next.
He's the kind of person who won't take no for an answer.
They all agree that it's very difficult for him to play.
But Dr. Maceira said that the only thing that might work
is to use an insole to change the foot's support.
TOP VIEW - SIDE VIEW
But there were no guarantees.
It was the first time in my life that I was going to treat
a high-level tennis player with this kind of problem.
I had absolutely no certainty that this was going to work.
I put on the insole…
My foot was basically sticking out of the shoe,
because it was very thick.
So, it was very uncomfortable.
Honestly, my foot still hurt.
But it was now a pain that I could handle.
So then, I…
I thought…
"We're saved."
The treatment hasn't healed that foot at all.
He will always have pain.
Feeling any discomfort?
-Yeah. -Come on, Rafael!
Give me a sec. I have to stop for a little bit.
But we didn't know if Rafa was going to be able to compete
at the highest level.
No one knew. No one.
He lived in a state of constant uncertainty.
Your injuries. How do you feel?
Well, so far, so good. I'm really happy.
And, right now, I feel calm.
Come back for Doha.
It's five weeks away.
Easy.
It's possible that in three weeks, sure, yeah, I could be playing,
if things were evolving smoothly.
By playing, I mean…
at a very low level, you know?
But not playing a real match, okay?
Do we want to announce it
only through a written statement on your social,
or do we want to make a video of you?
I think I'd say,
"This shows that I'm not ready to play five sets yet."
"And I'll keep working so I can be fit for the next part."
"So, my goal doesn't change,
the way I'm facing the season doesn't change."
-For the recovery time, say, two weeks? -I mean, I wouldn't put any dates.
You know?
Shitty news.
Maybe we rushed coming back?
You never know.
Man, for him, it's really tough mentally.
To start all over again.
Being on Rafa's team,
hearing bad news becomes almost second nature to you.
Obviously, Roland-Garros is the goal.
But, now, I don't know.
Breaking tennis news.
Rafa Nadal has withdrawn from the Australian Open
after suffering a muscle tear.
Today's withdrawal would mean
he might never play at the Australian Open again.
A major he's won twice before.
During the years I've been with him,
I've had many surprises.
We understand that time is running out.
But on the other hand…
he's Rafa Nadal.
Defending champion, winner here last year at Roland-Garros,
Rafael Nadal!
The pain has never left.
I had days it was better, others it was worse.
But I could handle the pain enough so I could compete.
Very few people would have endured all that.
You need to have a very strong mindset.
And people around you who've got your back.
But, above all…
a dream.
2006.
Mm.
It's hard to talk.
And maybe that's the biggest hug I've ever given him.
Well, and he's given me.
Yeah.
To me, tennis became a race against time.
Always having the doubt in my mind, saying,
"Let's see how long I can play with this foot."
I never knew how long my career would last.
I would always think,
"Maybe this is my last year."
So, there's no time to stop.
I have to take every chance I get.
This rivalry brings out the very best involved.
I think it's gonna be one of the greatest rivalries of all time. ny dates.