The stadium was silenced and stunned. I just lost a surprising game to an opponent I've beaten before. My uncle Toni looked at me and he knew what we needed to do. I knew everybody in the stands was wondering how I just lost that game. Some people even left before the game was over. It was clear that I am not in condition to play the game I love so much. My knee injuries prevented me from my full potential to play that game. My family members had that same stunned look on their face and they knew that I would never play a game like that unless something was wrong.
As I woke up in the morning, my knee tendonitis has been eating away at my full potential. I could feel the pressure building up in my right knee as I took a step. I could feel the bones grinding against each other as my tendons pulled and relaxed. My knees kept giving up on me every time I got up and walked. I knew I needed to take several weeks or even months to heal this or else it would be getting worse than it already is. As a kid, I was a soccer and tennis player. My family knew something wasn't right because they could tell by how much my legs were giving up but I kept pushing. I now had to keep telling myself that I was going to make a big comeback for this injury that is going to take several months and perseverance to heal.
When I left my physical therapy training I, I considered what I was going to do for the tennis games coming up. I knew I was going to have to pull out the U.S. open and the London Olympics. My fans would be stunned to not see me in the Olympics but I need to do this so I can be at the top of my game when I am all ready and healed.
Growing up the son of a famous football player in Spain, I had many expectations to be a football player. But the first time my uncle brought me to the tennis courts, my life changed. Most kids wait for the tennis ball to come to them, but I ran to the ball. My uncle Toni knew I had potential. I will always remember the smell of the red dirt, the sound of the tennis ball and the sound of the rackets. My uncle Toni always made me have the most intense practices a kid could have. Sweeping the courts, picking up all the tennis balls and tennis balls would be thrown at me if I wasn't paying attention to the task. I was always complaining to my mom and dad that he was putting too much on me. They considered that this training was best for me and now I know that training made people in the world know me today.
Today, I am known as one of the greatest of all time. All that hard work from the past helped me become the player I am today. All the setbacks with injuries pushed me back but then I made one of the greatest comebacks anyone else could never have done. I was winning the French open after the French Open, Wimbledon after Wimbledon, and just kept winning. I had many injuries including knee tendonitis, wrist injuries, and much more. Every time I get injured, I have to motivate myself to get better than I was before I was injured. After all those times, including those intense practices with my uncle Toni, sweeping up dirt, picking up tennis balls, and if I wasn't paying attention to my task, tennis balls would get thrown at me.
As I was eating, I thought about what it meant to stop playing the game I love is something I could never imagine. I don't ever want to stop playing the game, not just because I win, but because it's fun. If I had to give up on tennis because of an injury, I would never forgive myself because I always come back stronger from an injury, not just physically, but also mentally. I'm always ready to play the games that I need to play. If i'm not ready, then who else isn't going to be ready to play me in a match or kids that are inspired by me, they are going to ask, ¨Where's Rafael Nadal? Why isn't he playing any more?¨ I don't want that to happen to kids or other people that are inspired by me because the way I play motivates them to become a great player just like me. It's not fair for them not to be motivated anymore if I don't play because I don't try to get better if I'm injured or because I don't try to win the game and just suddenly stop playing. I want my legacy to go on, not just for kids, but for my family. They know I will never give up tennis even if they make me try to give up because of a life changing injury. I'm too dedicated to tennis to stop.
I remember when I had to sit out of the U.S. Open and then the London Olympics because of my injury. My uncle Toni always talks to me when I get injured so I can feel more motivated to get back. It goes like this, ¨Rafa, why are you trying too hard to get better? You know you can always quit.¨ Toni nudged me in the shoulder.
¨Uncle Toni, why are you thinking like that? You know I'm never going to quit tennis until I have to no matter what. I'm going to keep going until I keep winning and keep getting better. I'm still not at my best. ¨I said as I glared at him.
¨Rafa, you know you're still injured right? Your knees aren't at their best. You know all those people that know that you are good at the game don't even notice you right now. They are all focused on the people that are winning the Olympics and the U.S. Open. So if I were you, I would hurry up.¨ That always helped me get better because he made me feel mad and had to get back out on the courts. He made me have intense training even though I was injured. My injuries always felt like they were getting banged on by a rock multiple times. I still remember the feeling of the pain back when I was still injured.