Rafael Nadal admits that becoming the father of a child has been “a drastic change” in his life, but noted that he is happy and does everything possible to balance his professional and private life well. In October, Nadal became a father for the first time in his life after his wife Xisca gave birth to a son.
“Of course it has been a drastic change, but I have to organize myself to be able to continue doing my professional life in the best possible way. I am happy, enjoying a new stage, which was also seen coming. I always thought that all this would come when I retire.
That’s what I always had in mind. What happens is that my career, luckily, has lasted much longer than I expected. So I have to learn to live with this new stage of my life and try to remain as competitive as possible,” Nadal told Marca.
After ending his participation in the US Open, Nadal flew to the Laver Cup at the end of September to be part of Roger Federer’s send-off. However, Nadal did not stay long in London, as he arrived in the city a day before the start of the tournament.
On Friday, Nadal and Federer played a doubles match and the next morning the Spaniard returned home to be with his pregnant wife. On October 13, Spanish media reported that Nadal and his wife had welcomed a baby boy. In early November, Nadal played his first tournament since he became a father.
After finishing his 2022 season at the Paris Masters and ATP Finals, Nadal went to South America to celebrate the Latin American tour he had organized for the end of 2022.
Rafa won his 14th French Open singles title
Rafael Nadal recently reflected on his chronic foot pain during Roland Garros and how it forced him to even consider retiring from tennis.
“The title in Paris was totally unexpected. A few weeks before I had left Rome with a limp and it was a miracle that the doctors found a way to numb the nerves in my foot. I arrived with a very poor preparation, but I had a lot of confidence in my tennis and the key day, in the quarterfinals against Djokovic, I played very well,” the Spaniard said.
“I was very happy after winning Roland Garros, but at the same time, I thought I was going to have to retire from professional tennis because I couldn’t continue with those chronic pains or playing undercover.”
