Rafael Nadal and the mental struggle in tennis
Rafael Nadal once again demonstrated his fighting spirit at the Australian Open. At an event, the Spaniard spoke about the mental component in tennis.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Feb 10, 2022, 01:34 pm
"I thought f*** I'm gonna lose like 2012 and 2017. But I just kept fighting. I can lose, he can win, but I can't give up." These are the words of Rafael Nadal after this year's Australian Open final. The ghosts of the past almost caught up with the Spaniard in Melbourne, since he already had 2012 and 2017 against Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the fifth section with a break and still lost the final.
History shouldn't repeat itself against Daniil Medvedev, thanks to a martial feat Nadal won his second title at the Australian Open. At an event organized by "Cantabria Labs", the 21-time Grand Slam winner spoke about the mental struggle in tennis.
"Tennis is a mentally aggressive sport. It always demands a lot from you. The slightest mistake will send you home. You have to be able to concentrate almost 100 percent on what you're doing without worrying about external things to be distracted," explained Nadal. For this reason he also has his rituals on the pitch. "That's how I manage to differentiate my competitions from the rest of my life."
Another aspect that helps Nadal in his performances is the lack of fear of failure. He couldn't get too much out of this expression, because "for me, the only failure is not trying. When I go to the Australian Open and come back after losing the first round, but I've worked hard and in the preparatory week the had the right attitude, then that's not a failure."