Le retour de Rafael Nadal approche. Le Taureau de Manacor devrait bien faire son retour mardi en Espagne, à Barcelone, où il s'entraîne depuis plusieurs jours. Son apparition dans le tableau final est un signal très positif. Non tête de série bien sûr (l'Espagnol est 644e ATP cette semaine), le Majorquin affrontera au premier tour l'Italien Flavio Cobolli, 63e mondial et battu d'entrée en qualifications à Monte-Carlo, puis pourrait se frotter à Alex De Minaur, tête de série n°4 et 11e ATP, au deuxième tour en cas de victoire. Nadal jouera mardi en fin d'après-midi, pas avant 16h, contre l'Italien. Un rendez-vous à ne pas manquer. En conférence de presse ce lundi à Barcelone, Rafa a été clair : "Je suis venu ici un peu à la dernière minute, car je ne savais pas si j'allais pouvoir jouer. Demain, je serai sur le terrain. Rien ne me fait douter. La question est : puis-je ou non ? Je reviens de deux années difficiles, mon corps ne me laisse pas suivre le calendrier. Sur le plan personnel, être à Barcelone est un cadeau. J'y fais face comme c'est ma dernière année."
Video : Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell / @bcnopenbs
Video : Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell / @bcnopenbs
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SportTranscription
00:00 Can you give us an injury update and how close to 100% you are?
00:07 No, I can't give you an injury update because the list is long and I just want to think
00:16 about what can happen. I can only tell you that today I feel myself good enough to be
00:25 on court tomorrow and that for me is so important. It means a lot to me to be able to play one
00:30 more time here in Barcelona, in a place that I had an amazing success and a lot of unforgettable
00:38 memories. So just trying to enjoy every moment and I am excited about being on court in a
00:44 professional tournament again tomorrow and especially here at home.
00:48 The day after Roland-Garros I have been on crutches, so that's the truth. I don't have
00:58 to remember but the way that I played that Roland-Garros has been under a lot of issues
01:04 and difficulties. So that's part of life. In 2022 I was not able to think about how
01:18 long it will take me to be back playing on a play court tournament without a diet. I
01:22 was enjoying the title of Roland-Garros and trying to be ready for the next event. That's
01:26 what I have been doing all my life, just trying to think what's going on day by day and just
01:35 try to adapt to the situations and try to be able to improve under any circumstances
01:44 to be a better player. That's what I did all my life and worked well and now I am in a
01:52 different perspective of my tennis career, in a different momentum. I am just trying
01:58 to enjoy every moment. I was not able to spend a lot of days on the tour the last two years,
02:04 so just trying to enjoy every day that I am able to play with the guys on a professional
02:12 level that means a lot to me.
02:15 I am happy to be here. There are a lot of good memories from this tournament and unfortunately
02:29 I have not been able to be here in the last few years. I am here, luckily. I have been
02:36 able to come here at the last minute and I have tried it. I had not come before because
02:43 I did not know what to say, if I was going to play or not. I think that within the week
02:51 I have had positive training and tomorrow I will be on the court.
02:55 I don't know what can happen in the future, but today I take it as my last participation
03:01 here in the W2. This is my current feeling and I will try to enjoy it in the way I can
03:09 and without giving up being competitive. That is not why I am going to come here to pay tribute.
03:14 I will try to do my best to give me opportunities. I think the week of training has been positive.
03:22 I will go for it. We'll see what happens.
03:27 But if I am afraid, what else can happen? The only thing that can happen is that things
03:32 happen again and I can't keep playing again. But it's nothing new that hasn't happened
03:37 in the last year and a half. If I have respect, then yes. If I know what can happen, then
03:44 yes. We will continue until I feel that it is no longer worth it.
03:53 It is not worth it to continue doing the things I do. I don't set a limit date, but as I said
04:05 before, life marks your path and I try to do things in the most logical way possible.
04:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]