Still: I’m a lot skinnier than I’ve been in recent years. I’ve worked hard for it

After a year, Rafael Nadal returned to the place where he celebrated a great triumph. He entered the new edition of the Australian Open with a win over Jack Draper at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne and spoke at a press conference about his physical change.

Almost a year after his 21st Grand Slam title, Rafael Nadal has returned to the scene of the crime. He has made no secret of the fact that it was his second Australian Open title that meant so much to him.

“It was one of the most emotional moments of my career,” recalls Nadal. ” But it’s in the past now,” the Spanish tennis player doesn’t want to dwell on his memories.

We’ll reminisce a little bit. Nadal suffered a serious leg injury in the summer of 2021 and didn’t know if he would ever step on court again. Six months later he reached the final of the Australian Open, his least favourite surface, losing 0-2 to the later world number two, Daniil Medvedev.

But in the end he scraped out the last of his strength and turned the match around to record a record 21st Grand Slam and become the most successful tennis player of all time.

After that, he dominated Rolland Garros and had his sights set on Wimbledon, but had to retire in the semi-finals due to injury. Now he is back at the Australian Open and would like to repeat his success from last year.

In the first round, he took down the dangerous Jack Draper. the 36-year-old Mallorca native won the first set 7-5, but the Briton took the second set 6-2. Nadal then regained momentum and advanced to the second round after 6-4 and 6-1 sets.

At the press conference afterwards, he also praised his physical change. “I’m much thinner than I have been in recent years. I’ve worked hard on this aspect to get results,” Nadal added.

Source: MARCA