Rafael Nadal returned to professional tennis, after a short break, to help Spain overcome a strong German team in the Davis Cup. Nadal is gearing up to defend his French open title next month in Paris. The king of clay is vying for an eleventh French Open title, a mammoth milestone compared to any standards. For those who do not know, Nadal has opened up a tennis coaching academy in Spain for youngsters. Rafa’s uncle Toni Nadal, separated from Rafa’s coaching team earlier this year, to focus on the academy.

Elaborating more on the difficulty of training youngsters Nadal said, “Parents shouldn’t put too much pressure on kids to become professional athletes.” He also added that a lot depends on the natural talents that one possesses, and that the kid must be allowed to explore his own interests. Rafa strengthened his claim, by giving Federer and Djokovic’s example. “For example, (Roger) Federer or (Novak) Djokovic worked a lot to achieve what they did, but you have to consider that they had a special talent. To be a super player, you need to have something inborn.”

Nadal also spoke about the difficulties that he had to endure throughout his entire career. “I deal with painkillers and I have to use them, but I am not the only one, everyone does it. He also added, “Throughout my career, I missed many more events than my biggest rivals. Injuries are complicated because, when you deal with physical issues, you lose a lot of months and you can’t compete.”

Rafa has been hampered by injuries throughout the latter half of 2017, missing out on the ATP world tour finals, as well as retiring in the semifinals of the Australian Open earlier this year against Marin Cilic. Nadal has not played an official ATP tourna-ment since then.