Rafa Nadal brushed off talk of retiring anytime soon after the 22-times Grand Slam champion was stunned by Cameron Norrie in the United Cup mixed team tournament on Saturday, saying he still enjoyed competing at the highest level.
Nadalโs preparations for his Australian Open title defence got off to a shaky start as Norrie beat him 3-6 6-3 6-4 to seal his first victory over the 36-year-old Spaniard in their fifth career meeting.
Faced with a question on whether defeats at this stage in his career left him more determined to play as long as he could or acknowledge that things were getting difficult, Nadal simply said retirement was not on his mind yet.
โI lost my match. Thatโs it, no? Every time I come to a press conference it seems that I have to retire. So you are very interested on my retirement. I mean, that, for the moment, isnโt the case,โ a smiling Nadal told reporters.
โWhen the day arrives, Iโm going to let you know, guys. Donโt keep going (on) with the retirement, because Iโm here to keep playing tennis.โ
Nadal, whose 2022 season began in complete contrast as he went on a 20-match winning spree, said the early defeat ahead of the new season was not a disaster.
โI can do things better and I need to do it. He played his first match two days ago, thatโs an advantage, especially if you win the match the way that he did,โ Nadal added.
โAnd then I need to be a little bit faster physically, a little bit more solid, some less mistakes and make better decisions at some points, playing a little bit longer.
โAll credit to him that he did a lot of things very well. In my case, I think thereโs a way to improve but I have time before the Australian Open starts in two weeks. Either way, we still focus on this competition.โ
