RAFAEL NADAL KING OF TENNIS

Rafa: "My hope is to be in Abu Dhabi. Sincerely, I'm training a lot, in all aspects I can. I think I'm taking steps forward. Though we still have to wait a little more, my roadmap's still the same. That is, my hope's to be in Abu Dhabi on the 17th & 18th to play those 2 exho matches and test myself to see how the foot responds and also to see how I feel myself. After that, it'll be the time to take decisions. But I think the last few weeks have been positive and the goal is to return as soon as possible but without making mistakes."

Excitement & motivation:

Rafa: "The most important thing is to feel that my foot is OK, so that I can train and compete. I'm aware that even if my foot's OK, comebacks after a long lay-off are difficult and this will also be so, no doubt about it. But I have the excitement & motivation to try to be back at the highest level and. if it takes a bit longer, we'll just have to be patient & work for it"

Rafa talks about the Next Gen, most GS titles:

Rafa: "Well, they're not Next Gen. We can't make the Next Gen eternal! Zverev, Medvedev, Tsitsipas are no longer Next Gen. They are 'Current Generation' players. Right now the best positioned player to end with most GS titles is ND. You only need to see where RF is & where I'm, while he's competing & in a great shape. That's the reality as of now. We'll see what happens in some months, but right now if there's a clear favorite, it's him."

Translated by Genny SS