Rafael Nadal’s career was always marred with injuries, which proved to be a spanner in the works for him. However, Nadal always worked his way around them and gave his 120% on the court. The Spaniard had to take a lot of painkillers to play the most important matches of his career and bore a lot of pain due to multiple injuries.

After recently announcing his retirement from the game, Nadal opened up on facing breathing issues on the court. The Spaniard admitted he was finding it difficult to control his breath and it was not possible for him to keep competing at the highest level.

Nadal had a glorious career, winning 22 Grand Slam titles, and was always known to give his best on the court, on every single point.

“I went through a very difficult moment, mentally, a few years ago. Physical pain I was very used to, but there were times on the court when I had trouble controlling my breathing, and I couldn’t play at the highest level. I don’t have trouble saying it now,” said Rafael Nadal on the Gift for the Players’ Tribune.

“There were months when I thought about taking a complete break from tennis to cleanse my mind. In the end, I worked on it every day to get better. I conquered it by always moving forward, and I slowly became myself again. The thing that I’m most proud of is that I may have struggled, but I never quit. I always gave the maximum.”

After the Davis Cup quarterfinals against the Netherlands at Malaga, which was Nadal’s swansong, the Spaniard credited his father for unwavering support.

“To my father, who I believe, has been a source of inspiration to me in every sense of the word. I think he has been an example of effort, of overcoming. Many, many thanks to my father in a very, very special way,” Nadal said.

Nadal hardly played in the last two years because of injury woes.