Rafa Nadal Confirms that he will be in Madrid: "I really want to play at home"
After the loss due to injury of Iga Swiatek, number 1 in the world, Paula Badosa (New York, 1997) will be the highest-qualified tennis player in the third WTA 1000 of the season.
She champion in Sydney at the beginning of the course, she attends EL MUNDO and another Spanish outlet at the Caja Mágica, on the eve of its premiere in the capital (around 2:45 p.m.).
How do you get to Madrid in such an intense and demanding season? I arrive well, but honestly I would have liked to have had a couple more days to adapt because the conditions in Madrid are always different.
I had to do it quickly.
I'm looking forward to starting. The draws are very tough from the start due to the changes in the rankings.
Is it overwhelming to have to fight every tournament to the maximum from the start? The truth is that yes.
Every time I understand more the decision of Barty [the Australian tennis player, who decided to retire at 25 years old being number 1 in the world], because the circuit is very, very hard, every week it demands you, every week you start from scratch, almost every week there is a Masters 1000 or a major tournament where you have to try to reach the final rounds.
In the position you are in, people demand that you be there.
So, it's a lot of stress.
There are many weeks of competition.
It is a season that starts in January and ends in November.
Maybe it's too much, but it's been that way for a long time.
I have to adapt to that and regulate myself with my team so that they help me control it. How do you prepare mentally for it? I go day by day and try to enjoy the rest days, calculate them well.
I have a good team that helps me enjoy training too.
In the competition it is about giving everything you have at that moment. And physically? It is also very hard.
My physical trainer and my physical therapist help me to recover as well as possible, because I also have a big body that is difficult to recover. I was talking about Ashleigh Barty and that I understood her decision to leave it very young.
Are we going to see you much longer on the circuit? One thing is to understand it and another for me to do the same.
I really like tennis.
Since I was little I enjoyed the sport itself.
If we add to that the fact that I really like to compete, luckily you are going to see me for many more years on the circuit. A year ago I played against her in the semifinals.
You were doing well, you had just won her first title, but nothing to do with the status you have now.
How do you deal with the pressure of being one of the favorites to win each tournament? It has been a change that has come very quickly.
I am adapting to the process.
I play like this almost every competition.
My rivals play with less pressure.
All the games are very tough, but I am adapting to this new situation.
Is a challenge for me.
And I have always really liked challenges. He has a good relationship with Aryna Sabalenka,
Belarusian and her doubles partner.
What do you think of Wimbledon's decision to prevent Russian and Belarusian nationals from playing tennis because of the war? It doesn't make any sense to me.
A war is something very, very strong, which should not exist, but another thing is that they mix politics with sports and also in tennis, which is individual and yes, we each have our flag, but Aryna Sabalenka represents her name and I represent mine.
Mixing things that have nothing to do with her and for which she is not to blame does not seem fair to me.
For example, I get along very well with Sabalenka, but three days ago we played [Sabalenka defeated her in the semifinals in Stuttgart] and we raised fists.
We know the difference between competition and what's outside of it. She is an ambassador for Kérastase and can be seen frequently in non-tennis publications.
How does she handle that other part of her career?
Doesn't it distract you from the competition? I don't know how long ago I signed for these brands, I think it was in November.
I'm number two in the Race.
Do you think I'm doing badly? No, I would say no. No, no, if it's an answer with a question because this is said a lot, but I want to clarify it because much more is said on the female side, than if you work with a brand, that if photo sessions are held, because not only have I heard it with myself;
men are not asked, it has been like this all their lives.
But well, we also have great tennis players like Carlos Alcaraz, who makes Rolex and Isdin, and I don't think that question is asked.
I want to clarify it and it is evident that it does not distract me because I am two of the Race. Now he has Jorge García as his coach.
Change frequently.
He has had several in recent years.
What are you looking for in each of them? The changes have come from a decision that in the end fell by itself.
I have never been to change the team.
When I have a good environment I don't usually do it.
In the end, to square the pieces and have a good environment you have to try many things.
Luckily now I have found it and you will not see me changing teams if everything is fine.
When I have a good environment I don't usually do it.
In the end, to square the pieces and have a good environment you have to try many things.
Luckily now I have found it and you will not see me changing teams if everything is fine.
When I have a good environment I don't usually do it.
In the end, to square the pieces and have a good environment you have to try many things.
Luckily now I have found it and you will not see me changing teams if everything is fine.
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