Nadal, sincere after his defeat: "If I were the captain, I would put another player"

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Rafa Nadal entered the press room with a serious expression. Despite having accumulated good feelings in the previous training sessions before his debut today in the Copa Davis, Botic Van de Zandschulp made him see that there are things that cannot be practiced in a training session when it comes to competition, like moments of tension and how to manage those moments. Rafa opens up and is totally sincere, after what was seen today, if he were Ferrer, he would not put himself back in the singles.

Sincere

I feel like this has been my last match as a professional in singles.

Emotion during the match

I knew it could be my last match as a professional tennis player. The moments before were emotional and difficult to manage in general. Many emotions. I tried to handle it in the best way possible. I cannot thank enough the people who supported me in the stands. The decision was made for me to play. We knew there was a risk, but David had seen us all train during the week and chose me, thinking purely about the sport. I couldn't win the point. I have won many times, but today it wasn't meant to be. In terms of attitude and energy, I didn't fail, I just couldn't reach the necessary level to secure the point for Spain. It's been a long time since I competed, and I have been better in training than I was today.

His feelings

Perhaps I only have a few hours as a player left, I hope not, but I'm not the captain, and it's him who makes the decisions he believes are best for the team. I said that if I didn't feel prepared, I would exclude myself, but that wasn't the case. I think I trained well enough to play. I just couldn't perform as I would have liked. After the match, I hope we advance and there's another opportunity, but if I were David, I would choose another player.

When he says that, is it because he no longer has the desire?

It's not that I lack desire. One thing is what I feel like doing, and another is what I believe is best for the team. What one desires may not always align with what is best for the team. I had the uncertainty of how I would respond in competition since I haven't played for months. It had worked well in training. When I say that, it's not because I lack desire. I hope to continue and would work to be eligible, whether in singles or doubles. Based on what I've seen of my level in competition, if I were the captain, I wouldn't choose myself. It's a different matter. I say what I think would be best for the team. If on Friday, David tells me to go out, I'll do it with the utmost enthusiasm.

If this was his most emotionally stressful match

No, I don't think so. Obviously, there are a lot of circumstances that make everything go very fast, making it difficult to control the match because I don't have the automatism of being in competition. This court is faster than what we are used to on the circuit. I didn't have the mental agility to handle certain moments of the match well. I've had more stressful matches than this one, but this could be my last encounter, and emotionally, that had to be managed as well. I don't want to be hard on myself. I couldn't do more. I will keep training every day to be better than I was today. I will support the team, and hopefully everything goes well. I lost my first Davis match, and I also lost the last one (laughter).

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Nadal, sincero tras su derrota: "Si yo fuera el capitán, pondría a otro jugador"