Jim Courier admits he is glad that Rafael Nadal proved him wrong and went on to enjoy a very long career. Nadal, 36, started experiencing knee problems very early in his career and some thought there was no way that the Spaniard would not be able to play in his thirties.
Not only that Nadal was able to play the game in his thirties, but he has also managed to win several Grand Slams over the last five years. “We’ve been lucky to have Rafa as long as we’ve had him and I hope we’ll have him for a much longer time, but my feeling generally is just gratitude that he’s been able to endure, because his game is so physical.
And I was among the leaders of people who didn’t think he’d play out of his 20s because of the physicality, and I’m so pleased that we’ve been able to witness his greatness for so long,” Courier said on Tennis Channel’s Inside-In podcast, as quoted on Sportskeeda.
Nadal has promised to give his best to return to his old level
The second part of the season wasn’t that great for Nadal. After suffering a surprise round-of-16 loss at the US Open, Nadal also lost his opener at the Paris Masters and picked up defeats to Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime in his first two ATP Finals matches.
“I don’t think I forget how to play tennis, how to be strong enough mentally. I just need to recover all these positive feelings and all this confidence and all this strong mentality that I need to be at the level that I want to be.
And I don’t know if I am going to reach that level again. But what I don’t have any doubt about, that I’m going to die for it,” Nadal said in Turin. On Thursday, Nadal defeated Casper Ruud in his last group stage match in Turin. Nadal didn’t make it past the group stage but at least he was able to finish his season with a win.
