MY ACCOUNT
Rafael Nadal’s happiness does not depend on finishing his career with more Grand Slam titles than rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Nadal edged out Denis Shapovalov in a five-set epic on Tuesday to reach the Australian Open semi-finals.
The Spaniard has only won the season’s opening Grand Slam once, back in 2009. However, the field has opened up for him this year, with reigning champion Djokovic unable to compete and 40-year-old Federer taking his time to return from knee surgery.
Nadal, Djokovic and Federer are all tied on 20 Grand Slams each, meaning the next of the trio to win a major will set a new record.
While Nadal is hoping to go all the way in Melbourne, he insisted his career satisfaction does not depend on being the record holder.
“The fact that we are equal at 20, the only thing that says is that we share an amazing [time] of the history of our sport, and for me it’s a real honour to be part of it, without a doubt,” he said.
“I don’t hope for anything. I just keep going. I am just enjoying playing tennis, as I said hundreds of times. Honestly, and from the bottom of my heart, I really don’t [have certain expectations].
“Of course, I want to keep winning, but more than because I want to achieve or I want to have more than the others, because I love what I am doing. I want to keep doing this as long as possible.
“The last six months there have been a lot of doubts if I would be able to keep going. But now I feel good. We are in a position that I won a tournament, I’m in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, so that’s amazing for me.
“In terms of what can happen in the future, honestly I really don’t care that much. I don’t believe that my happiness, my future happiness depends on if I achieve one more Grand Slam than the others or if the others achieve more Grand Slams than me.
“No, I am super satisfied and feel very lucky for all the things that happen to me. I have a way to approach life. You can’t be always frustrated if the neighbour has a bigger house than you or a better phone or a better thing, no? I’m not going to be frustrated if Novak or Roger finishes their careers with more Grand Slams than me.
“Let’s enjoy the situation, every one of us, we did very special things in our sport. Let’s enjoy that.”
Nadal lost to Djokovic in the Melbourne final in 2019. He has reached the showpiece match five times in total.
The world number five had not played a competitive game since August last year before he returned to action earlier this month, winning the Melbourne Summer Set.
Nadal had dropped just one set across the opening four rounds prior to his clash with Shapovalov, which finished 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3.
“Yeah, I have been playing well,” Nadal added. “To play at this level against a player like [Shapovalov], that he’s one of the best players of the world, and see myself again competitive against these kinds of players, for me it’s everything.
“I’m just enjoying every single moment, try my best playing with the highest positive attitude possible and with the right spirit.”
