‘I Don’t Care Today’: Rafael Nadal Addresses The GOAT Debate After Finally Surpassing Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in Grand Slams

The world saw Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal make history yesterday at the Australian Open. The 35-year-old faced off against World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the men’s final in Melbourne.

Initially, it had looked like the young Russian had the upper hand, taking a 2-0 set lead against Rafa. However, there was a lot of tennis left for the Rod Laver Arena to witness.

Rafael Nadal staged a gargantuan three-set comeback to ultimately win the Australian Open, his 21st Grand Slam title. Thus, he has finally surpassed longtime rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the all-time Grand Slam tally.

Rafael Nadal doesn’t care about the Grand Slam tally

In his post-match presser, Nadal was asked if he felt like the best player of all time now that he had won the most Grand Slams. However, for Rafael Nadal, there’s no such conviction.

“I don’t want to change my point of view,” Rafa said. “It’s amazing to achieve another Grand Slam at this moment of my career,” the 21-time Grand Slam champion said.

Nevertheless, Rafa is not numb to the importance of his achievement. “Of course, I know it’s a special number, I know what it means,” the Spaniard acknowledged.

Even though for Rafa, the title has a “big significance,” he still stands by what he said, which was that he simply cares about the title itself, and not the bigger picture. After all, a few months ago, he had been contemplating retirement and didn’t know if he’d even play tennis again.

Then, he addressed the debate about the best player in history, and whether his 21st Grand Slam meant he was now the one. “I don’t care much if I am the one or not the one,” Rafa stated. Furthermore, he’s also uncaring of whether he is the “best of the history” or not.

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Thus, all that matters for the Spaniard is that he feels lucky “to achieve one more very special thing in (his) career”. Now, Rafa shared what’s truly on his mind- “I wanna sleep today,” he said, sharing that he doesn’t care about the rest.

Most importantly, for Rafa, “it means even more to achieve the second Australian Open trophy, more than anything.”

Rafa looks back at his struggle to reach the Australian Open

It is not news to the world that Rafael Nadal simply did not expect himself to be playing at the level he is playing at. In fact, months ago, he was thinking of retiring from the sport, owing to the toll his tennis injuries had taken on his aging body.

“Today is an unforgettable day,” Nadal said. Clearly, the Spaniard smiled every time he looked at the Australian Open 2022 trophy beside him. However, he wouldn’t allow himself to believe that he deserved this.

“I will never say I deserve (this),” he said. For Rafa, a lot of people fight hard and deserve the victory as well. “But I really believe I hold a very positive spirit,” Rafael Nadal said.

Then, he looked back at the past half-year, describing that he “really fighter (fought) a lot to try to be back on court”. For him, there had been “very tough moments” which he had to face. So much so that he “didn’t know if (he) would have the chance to be back on the tour.”

Now, with a 21st Grand Slam secured under his belt, Rafael Nadal can look back and know for sure that his indomitable spirit reaped him this reward, and the only thing to do now is to keep going. After all, Roland Garros awaits!

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