“There were months when I thought about taking a complete break from tennis to cleanse my mind” – Nadal

Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal, who retired from the sport last month after a glittering career that saw him win 22 Grand Slam titles, has revealed that he came close to take a break from the sport a few years ago because he was struggling mentally.

In an essay for The Players Tribune, Nadal, for the first time, talks about a period where he had mental difficulties which impacted him on court.

“I went through a very difficult moment, mentally, a few years ago,” Nadal wrote in the essay. “Physical pain I was very used to, but there were times on the court when I had trouble controlling my breathing, and I couldn’t play at the highest level. I don’t have trouble saying it now. After all, we are human beings, not superheroes. The person you see at center court with a trophy is a person. Exhausted, relieved, happy, thankful — but just a person.”

The thing that I’m most proud of is that I may have struggled, but I never quit.

Nadal revealed that he continued to work on these issues and slowly returned to his normal self on court, adding that he was proud that he did not quit.

“Thankfully, I didn’t get to the point of not being able to control things like anxiety, but there are moments with every player when it’s difficult to control your mind, and when that happens it’s difficult to have total control of your game. There were months when I thought about taking a complete break from tennis to cleanse my mind. In the end, I worked on it every day to get better. I conquered it by always moving forward, and I slowly became myself again. The thing that I’m most proud of is that I may have struggled, but I never quit. I always gave the maximum,” the Spaniard said.

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