Nadal on the new generation: "The dynamics of the circuit have changed a lot".

Adrien Guyot

le 26/12/2024 à 08h24

2 min to read

Fonseca Mensik Michelsen Nadal

During the Next Gen ATP Finals, three players (Michelsen, Fonseca and Mensik), who took part in the tournament in Jeddah, were able to meet Rafael Nadal, who was visiting Saudi Arabia.

In a video published by ATP Tour (see below), the Spaniard talked about his management of the calendar and took the opportunity to point out an evolution with the new generation.

"In the beginning, life on the circuit was difficult. Organizing the days between tournaments was the most complicated thing for me.

When you win and take part in the tournament, everything goes well, you concentrate on the rest of the competition and the days go by quickly.

But when you lose and have to stay a week until the next tournament, it's much harder.

I remember being in Cincinnati in 2005, losing in the first round, and having to go back home. I stayed there for six days, and that was a big mistake.

It was hard for me to enjoy the tournaments. Then, as you get older, you start to enjoy things more.

You train, but you also go and visit this place or that, you go there to organize something you want to do. The key is to take things more casually," Nadal begins.

"Today, all the players have big teams around them, so there's no room for developing good relationships between players.

When I arrived on the circuit, I was very young and there were no social networks, there was no Netflix, we had smaller teams.

And we could interact more with each other. It made things easier and more fun.

Then, the dynamics of the circuit changed a lot, everyone spends their time only with their own team, as I did myself in my last years.

The circuit was more fun when there was more interaction with the other players," he concluded.