Look at the lobster!
-Have you told them yet? -No, not yet.
I better tell them.
That you're retiring?
I should.
But what if later you're…?
Now? Or…?
If you have to go to play there and all that.
Ready?
Grandma's very good at this!
Hey… she's a champion.
Wait!
I believe I need to retire
after Roland-Garros.
Do you even want to play in the tournament?
I think that's difficult, Mom.
Don't tell anyone…
I mean, no one.
I have to accept…
Accept reality.
In the end…
I think the party's gone on…
long enough.
Longer than you thought.
Yeah.
Are you feeling calm?
I don't know. I guess.
Damn the fucking net, damn it.
Damn the fucking net.
I can't make that mistake…
under any circumstances.
If he's playing well and makes two shitty shots…
he enters a…
negative spiral he can't seem to escape from.
Why do you move that slow, man?
Fuck.
Stop complaining.
-Because in the end… -That doesn't help me at all.
Exactly, dude. You get into a negative spiral you can't get out of.
I know it's not easy to enjoy, but try…
You absolutely have to do it in Paris, but start now.
Remember,
you don't know how many trainings you have left like today's.
In the end, that's what's truly beautiful.
Maybe in four or five years… you'll look back
and wish you could relive these moments because you didn't enjoy them.
And these are moments that will never happen again.
It has been 715 days
since Rafa Nadal stepped foot on the center court at Roland-Garros.
It's the most special marriage in the history of world sports.
Rafa Nadal, and the court where he has won 14 times…
and where, we hope, it's not the last.
Don't miss this one!
-Come on, hang in there, Rafa. -Yeah.
Throughout Rafa's career,
there are times he is really hard on himself.
During these situations like now,
you try to be his friend, not his coach.
There were some complicated and difficult years.
And even though I wasn't on his team,
I was aware of what he was going through.
2015 was the worst year.
Up to that point, it was the only time in my career
that I played the clay court season without winning a single tournament.
I had less energy, less ability to concentrate…
Something was clearly not working properly.
I went out on the court thinking,
"Let's see what happens today."
He has always lived with anxiety,
but not as much as in this period.
I remember he wasn't able to stay focused on the ball,
he would toss it and not see it.
I had no control.
I thought, "I'm making a fool of myself."
And that match is a reflection of
what my day-to-day life had been like…
for months.
Game, set, match, Djokovic.
After 70 victories and 2 losses on the clay of Paris,
Nadal has fallen to 10th place in the ATP rankings.
I came close to…
stop playing tennis for a while.
I was tired from my day-to-day life.
But…
Toni wasn't very…
Let's say he wasn't
a great lover of breaks.
He believed that the straightest path to recovery
was to try to carry on playing tennis.
I always say, "I've never seen anyone progress by resting."
Because when I lose,
I think we need to train.
Was this a hard training?
This is a lot harder than playing.
But at least this way, you guarantee that when you get to the court,
you are in condition.
Or not.
I talked to Toni.
I told him that he had to rest more,
ideas about managing workload…
But Toni didn't like that, I guess.
The only thing I said was,
"We need to work more."
He always thought that everything that was there to protect Rafael
would weaken him as a competitor.
I was most concerned about the mental part
because it's all tied together.
In his daily life, it affected him
not being able to escape
his state of anxiety.
I remember around that time he always needed to have water with him.
We couldn't get in the car without water
or he felt like he was choking.
If I didn't have a bottle of water in my hand,
I couldn't swallow.
My throat would go dry
and I would choke on my own saliva.
I knew it was anxiety,
but I couldn't find a solution.
I tried to make myself believe that things were getting better,
but, really…
I couldn't.
If you have anxiety, you have anxiety.
I didn't give it much importance.
I think, "Well… if we work, we'll get out of this."
Those two years were the most difficult of my entire career.
I did have to go to…
to…
to a psychiatrist.
He said it was probably due to
all these years of high demand,
and constantly living with… a feeling of stress.
The relationship with Toni on a professional level
wasn't bad,
but maybe I needed
my head to hear a different message.
The conclusion was reached
that it was necessary to incorporate another person to the team.
It was my father who called Toni.
If it was just me, I wouldn't have been able to do it.
It was a difficult feeling for me,
a very difficult decision,
because I believed that…
I had the feeling that
incorporating someone else to the team was hurting Toni.
You keep doing more of the same,
and maybe there will come a time that you need to do something else.
Toni is my brother, but…
my son comes first.
Toni maybe wasn't happy about it,
but we understood it would be beneficial for Rafa.
And from there, began the idea of bringing in…
Carlos.
As a child, Carlos was someone I admired very much.
WE'RE WITH YOU, CARLOS
Carlos is the first number one in the history of Spain
and he's from Mallorca.
When you see Carlos Moyá, what do you think?
That I'd like to be like him.
I came to the tour when I was very young.
And the only person I really knew was Carlos.
I always had the feeling that Carlos wanted the best for me.
He was a good person, humble, quiet.
I always tried to help him, to give him advice if he asked.
This bit goes up. It slides all the way up because of how I play.
You know you need to put that red tape here?
I saw that he was a player capable of
beating anyone on tour.
It was already clear that he was going to surpass me,
but I never wanted to hold him back or pull him down.
Hey, you have to go left.
It's to the left!
Son of a bitch!
But when he decided
that I should join the team,
it was a bit of a surprise to me.
I went to Palma to have dinner with him, and we talked for…
three hours about what he thought I needed,
what he thought he could contribute.
He hadn't won a Grand Slam in two years.
I told him, "I think you can win Grand Slams again
and I think you can be number one again."
I left the meeting, convinced that…
That it was a good decision
for him to join the team.
Carlos joined the team at the end of the year.
The idea was that Carlos and Toni would work as a team.
In the end, I understand that…
if there aren't sufficiently good results
and you want a change,
I think change is…
Change is good.
He is already 30 years old when I come in,
so he has to forget what has worked for him before.
We change the training system a little bit.
He thought we needed to train for less time,
but in a more specific way, the elements that I needed.
We have always been told
that Rafa needs to play more matches to gain confidence.
But he's so good, that for me, he didn't need so many matches.
The first Grand Slam matches he can use to get rhythm,
to get confidence.
Our first tournament is the Australian Open.
"I'm happy to return to the competition," Rafa Nadal declared.
At the press level, or the commentator level,
Carlos begins to take center stage.
Very strong mentally, very strong believing in himself,
and that's the Rafa we want to see.
Let me tell you, in 2017, from the very first moment,
we could see that something was coming back.
I've never seen anyone ever
have as much confidence in Rafa
as Carlos Moyá.
Many times before matches, I told him,
"Remember who you are."
"Make your rival see who he's playing."
"What you've already done is incredible."
"Make them see that history."
The tenth is in the bag!
From this point on, I think his perspective changes.
It enters his mind that…
"I'm back to being the same Rafa Nadal that I was during all these years."
Hold it there.
Now push harder.
Unbelievable. 6,000 people watching Rafa Nadal train.
I'm getting goose bumps.
Stay positive and find a way,
because you will find it.
You come to a court just to train,
and it's totally packed.
And they sing your name.
Beautiful, isn't it?
How the hell would this guy stop playing tennis after this?
Come on, win the point.
That's my player.
-Bravo. -So good, man.
Good quality, good.
Rafa is training really well.
He's still doing three-hour sessions every day.
He's won every set he's played.
Kiss.
Go with Daddy?
He's very sweaty.
It's okay with Daddy.
The logical thing is for me to retire.
But…
it would make me sad to retire without having tried everything.
My body has evolved positively these last few weeks.
The family is happy,
I'm happy playing, I'm having a good time right now.
To say this Roland-Garros will be my last… I mean, I can't tell you 100%.
I can perform. You know?
Good morning everyone.
Thank you and welcome to the iconic Roland-Garros tournament.
We will now begin the final draw.
It's a very important draw.
From the first match, he could play any player in the world.
The picture isn't complete… because we need the seeded players.
But it's already very interesting.
Seeded players number three and four.
And the news of the day
is the bad luck that Rafa Nadal had in the Roland-Garros draw.
His first match will be against Zverev, No. 4 in the world.
-Isn't the draw nice? -It is what it is.
Easy draw.
Zverev.
-The first one? -The first one.
Well, it's obviously not the draw you want.
-How is he taking it? -Well.
He said, "I came to win the tournament."
Rafa, you are the best player.
We love you so much in France.
I think Nadal can fight to be No. 1 in the world again.
Bringing Carlos to the team…
I think it went well
at the beginning.
I remember one day we were training in Manacor,
Toni was at some conference abroad…
Someone checks his cell phone
and says that Toni issued some statement.
Toni Nadal will stop coaching Rafa Nadal at the end of the season…
And in the press, he said…
That he was no longer working with me. That it was going to be his last year.
That's how we found out.
Rafa didn't know, I didn't know.
He didn't say anything to anybody.
We found out from the press.
It wasn't what I was looking for when I brought Carlos into the team.
For me, it wasn't like Carlos comes and Toni leaves.
I think the most normal thing would have been for him to have told us
before the press,
but… I guess he has his reasons.
What can I do about it?
I like to feel useful in life.
I don't like being in a place
where, in the end,
I feel like what I can offer is very little.
That's why I made the decision to leave.
That must have been a shock for him?
I don't think so.
I felt…
a bit of shock, of course.
Toni was my uncle and…
the influence he had on me
was far greater than any other person has ever had.
In a way, I felt scared
to learn how I'm going to react without Toni.
2017,
I won the US Open.
We finished the year number one.
I think he had to evolve
and change his perception of himself.
And I think that's the reason
he was so successful playing in his thirties.
I think in some ways it gave him
an extra belief in himself.
I lived the last years of my career, I would say, with a little more of…
a feeling of freedom
and less stress…
than when Toni was around.
He learned to relax a little bit.
To have a day-to-day life where you can enjoy yourself.
You are more mature at 30 years old.
You are yourself.
He stopped being
the child, so to speak.
He lived with his parents until…
2018, I think.
And he… would have lived with his parents much more,
but…
In fact, I was the one who suggested we move in together and he was like,
"Why?"
I was afraid…
of that decision.
But once it happened,
everything is good.
She was the woman I wanted to form a family with.
And she was, without a doubt, a very important support for me.
I was happy, those years of my career.
I really enjoyed seeing that I was competing
at the highest level.
I was having an incredibly good feeling.
I want to do whatever's possible to continue.
But, after the Australian Open,
my body wasn't doing well.
Rafa, how is everything going?
We will find out in a few days.
Do you have a good feeling about it?
I have no feeling at all.
The truth is that we had all been very surprised
he could play as long as he did.
This foot has degenerated over the years.
That's why there came a point when the foot said
it couldn't take anymore.
There were some complicated months.
He played in Madrid
and lost.
He played in Rome
and lost.
So he went to Roland-Garros with many doubts.
…21-time Grand Slam champion, winner of 13 Roland-Garros titles,
the Spaniard Rafael Nadal!
I was living with constant pain.
I think that for all of us,
we were almost at a point where it seemed like my career was…
over.
It was very clear that his body could not give any more.
He played the first match in pain.
But somehow…
he won.
Before the match,
I gave him a little bit of anesthetic to play.
But after, he tells me,
"Ángel, I really don't know how we're going to finish this tournament."
"I'm in pain."
We find ourselves in a situation
where the foot no longer responds to those treatments.
When I left the match,
my father… had to carry me
on his shoulders to my room.
I'm in so much pain.
I don't sleep at all.
Not even for a minute the whole night.
And I'm thinking, thinking, thinking.
First thing in the morning,
I called Ángel
and I asked him,
"Is there any way to put the sensory nerve to sleep
without affecting the motor nerve?"
And he told me, "Yes, we can try it out."
But medically, for me,
this is as far as we go,
because you could tear your tendon.
They pricked me here, here, here in the nerves
that were affecting the entire surface area of the foot.
I didn't know if it would work.
But I went to play.
He knows that pain is there.
But he was clear, that if
I gave him enough to be able to compete,
he was going to compete to the death. And he did.
He's done it. Rafa Nadal!
He makes it to the semifinals of Roland-Garros!
Rafa gave absolutely everything.
He gave us everything he had.
I am convinced that Rafa
went out on that court that day
thinking that maybe it was his last tennis match.
Because otherwise,
I don't see it as physically possible.
The man who makes miracles a daily thing,
has just written another page.
I don't know if it's a miracle, but almost.
Do you wish you had retired
after Roland-Garros in 2022?
Of course not.
Why would I?
I never thought about stopping.
I always wanted to continue.
For me, it's very simple.
I am exploring my limits.
If we're talking about Zverev, he comes in with confidence, and …
Today will be a great day.
He hasn't complained about anything.
-Here? -About physical stuff.
-I don't know if that's good. -Not the body or anything else.
He seems calm to me, man.
Let's go see Daddy.
Daddy!
We can bring a racket. But only one.
And 14 Roland-Garros titles,
in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013,
2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
and 2022.
That was clearly nerves.
I can't believe it, man.
It'll get better. You'll see.
Come on, Gus. Have some faith.
Despite everything that has happened in my career,
all the times I've been unable to play,
all the times it seemed like it was over,
I've always…
I've always kept the determination to fight.
Go, Rafael, confidence!
Come on, focus!
Let's go!
Now he sees.
He has faith now.
How things change, man!
Game, and second set, Zverev.
He's tired.
He's very tired.
I would never have thought I would be 37 years old,
trying to play tennis.
I know I don't need to prove anything to anyone…
nor to myself either.
But I can't stop myself.
This is my stamp.
This is me.
Game, set, and match, Zverev.
Now the sun came out.
The sun came out!
Do you know what Daddy did?
Daddy went like this, see?
But anyway…
This record is gonna be hard.
-To break? -Yes.
I might be wrong, but I think it'll be harder
to beat this one than Djokovic's 24.
You never know, but if you were to make me bet money…
I think it will take longer to beat
14 Roland-Garros titles than 24 Grand Slams.
It's not hard.
I mean, what you see extra, it's not hard, man.
It's soft. Touch it. Look, do this.
See?
What you see inflated isn't hard, it's soft.
That's an alien, man.
He says he doesn't know if he should play in the US Open.
I don't really see it either.
It's so pleasant right now.
Being here right now is the best.
When he arrived at Roland-Garros this year…
we thought he was going to say goodbye.
And then, as he saw himself training well,
he thought about going even further.
But of course, deep down, I thought,
"How are we going to continue like this?"
I think he likes to suffer
with the intention of overcoming that suffering.
But at the end of his career,
I believe that the suffering…
no longer led to the overcoming of that suffering.
It was suffering for the sake of suffering.
And that's what finally caused his end.
He's moving really slow, man.
Game, set, and match, Borges.
Well, after the defeat in Båstad,
Rafa wrote to us a few hours later.
The message says, "Team…"
"I'm not very given to these things, but it's true that I feel bad."
"Obliterated."
"Apologies for today to everyone."
"The truth is I couldn't find the energy to overcome my limits,
or at least try to."
"During the match, I decided to retire."
"Thank you all for everything,
and although there is no point in apologizing at this point in my career,
I do it because it's what I feel."
"A big hug to all."
After the match,
he locked himself in the bathroom.
And…
he wasn't well.
It's in his DNA to keep fighting.
But at that moment, in Båstad, he saw that he was not…
He saw that he wasn't able to do it anymore.
What did he say that made it feel like, "It's over"?
Those words.
"I need to retire."
Not "I have"… Not "I want to."
"I have to retire."
Why? Or no, only that.
It was obvious.
He didn't recognize himself on the court.
At that moment, he saw that he couldn't give anything else.
In some way, when you say, "I'm retiring…"
you're saying, "I surrender."
You stop being what you've been practically your whole life.
You go back to simply being a person.
Hello everyone.
Well, I'm here to…
to tell you something that I've spent some time
imagining and thinking about for a while now.
I have decided that the Davis Cup Finals
will be my last tournament as a professional tennis player.
I have always kept the hope that things would improve…
as has happened many times during my career.
But that's not the case this time.
The question becomes…
Why continue?
Welcome everyone to the ceremony in honor of Rafael Nadal.
I would be very unhappy
if I thought I hadn't done everything to fight until the end.
That has always been my biggest fear.
And now, there is no fear of anything.
Thank you.
"VICTORY BELONGS TO THE MOST TENACIOUS"
It's hard to start with just one person, but…
Toni,
you're the reason I'm here.
Thank you for dedicating a large part of your life
to wanting to be with me.
Training, talking, scolding,
making me suffer, making me laugh,
and also pushing me to my limits.
What we have experienced hasn't always been easy,
but without a doubt, it's been worth it.
I've achieved my goal.
Which is
to give my all…
And to reach my retirement in peace
with what my career has been.