‘I Don’t Think 21 Is Enough’- Rafael Nadal Says He Will Fight to Stay Ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic

Soon after landing in Spain, Rafael Nadal reached his academy where he was greeted by journalists and students from the center as he was asked various questions on several challenges faced during his Australian Open triumph.

Rafael Nadal is not obsessed with winning more slams than Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic

Nadal, having patience as usual, answered all the questions with ease and also talked about the GOAT race among Federer, Djokovic, and himself. In the end, it might be decided on numbers and right now, Nadal is in the drivers’ seat.

“I recently signed up to play tennis. My speech doesn’t change. Do I want to be the one with the most of the three? Yes, I would love to. But I’m not obsessed with the idea of ​​not being. I don’t think 21 is enough to be the one with the most I’m going to fight for it and I hope to have options if my physique allows me to.”

The Spaniard then changed the narrative to talk about Roland Garros last year, where he was close to clinch his 21st slam ion Paris before losing out to Novak Djokovic in four sets.

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“Last year I was close to 21 at Roland Garros. Whether I’m the one with the biggest or not I don’t think it will affect me in my life. In my day to day I’m not going to train thinking about winning more than the other.”

Nadal battled past tough hurdles to clinch 21st slam title at the Australian Open

Right from the start, Nadal’s position has been strong over the slam race. He maintained that he would like to win more but winning majors wasn’t the priority in his book. The Spaniard wanted to play tennis and enjoy his time on-court.

After making a comeback at Mubadala World Tennis Championships exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last year, Nadal moved to Australia to play the Melbourne Summer Set event and clinched the title. However, the Australian Open posed a different challenge.

Irrespective of the opponents, Nadal focused on his game and displayed grit on-court to battle past strong next-gen opponents like Denis Shapovalov, Matteo Berrettini, and Daniil Medevedev. Especially in the final, Nadal was two sets and a break down before finding a way to surpass the world no.2.

If Nadal maintains the same intensity during the European clay-court season, he will once again be a top contender to win the French Open for the 14th time.

Also read: ‘I’ve Got Too Many Children’- Roger Federer Details How He Watched Rafael Nadal’s Match