That’s not to say he doesn’t want to achieve more, of
course. Still, it’s not why he is still out there, at age 36, bothered by
chronic pain that flares up in his left foot every so often, and ready to face
23-year-old Casper Ruud of Norway in the men’s final at Roland Garros on
Sunday.
“It’s not about things that you need to prove. It’s about
how much you enjoy doing what you are doing — or, if you don’t enjoy, then it’s
another story,” said Nadal, who advanced when his semifinal opponent,
third-seeded Alexander Zverev, needed to stop playing late in the second set
after hurting his right ankle.
“But if you like what you are doing, you keep going. ... I
keep playing because I like what I do. So that’s it,” Nadal continued. “Of
course I enjoy (it). And if I am healthy enough to play, I like the
competition, honestly.”
Nadal, whose birthday was Friday, is the second-oldest man
to get to the title match in Paris; Don Budge was 37 when he was the runner-up
in 1930. The oldest champion in tournament history was Andres Gimeno, 34 when
he won in 1972.
“I like to play in the best stadiums of the world and feel
myself, at my age, still competitive. Means a lot to me.” Nadal said. “That
makes me feel in some way proud and happy about all the work that we did.”
While he is not showing any obvious signs of slowing, the
past year or so has not been easy.
Nadal sat out most of the last half of 2021 — missing
Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the U.S. Open — because of his foot problem.
He was able to win the Australian Open in January to break a
three-way tie at 20 major trophies with Novak Djokovic (who wasn’t there
because he isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19) and Roger Federer (who is
sidelined after a series of knee operations). But after that, Nadal missed time
with a rib injury, then was clearly hobbled by the foot as he limped around
during the Italian Open last month.
“I was not very positive after that about my foot, but I was
positive that I will be able to play here. And here I am. I played, I (fought),
I did all the things possible to give myself at least a chance to be where I
am,” said Nadal, who brought his personal doctor with him to Paris, “and happy,
of course, to be able to give myself another chance to play on the (last)
Sunday here.”
If Nadal has plenty of past success and “been there, done
that” in his favor going into the final, Ruud does have youth on his side. Not
to mention an impressive recent track record on clay, with tour highs of 66
match wins and seven titles on the surface since the start of the 2020 season.
“I will need to play my best tennis ever,” said Ruud, who
never had been past the fourth round of a major until this week. “But I still
have to believe that I can do it.”
Nadal is 13-0 in French Open finals, capturing the trophy in
his teens, his 20s and his 30s — and Ruud was paying close attention.
“I could probably tell you all the finals and who he has
played and who he has beaten, because I watched them all on TV,” Ruud said, and
then proved it by going through a list of the opponents. “To be a part of that
group myself is something I can always brag about after my career. I will, of
course, give it a shot at the title, and would be nicer to be able to brag
about the title, as well, after my career.”
Ruud, whose father, Christian, was a professional tennis
player from 1991 to 2001, calls Nadal his idol and has trained over the past
four years at the Spaniard’s academy in Mallorca.
And while Nadal and Ruud never have met in an official
match, they have spent many a day playing practice sets against each other.
“He always, pretty much, has always beaten me,” Ruud said
with a smile, then joked that, as a guest at the academy, he felt he needed to
let his host win.
“This is a special occasion for both of us. He’s playing for
his 22nd; I’m playing for my first. Big contrast,” Ruud said. “I’m the
underdog, and we will just enjoy the moment.” -AP