"I always thought that all this would come when I retired" - Rafael Nadal on fatherhood

Rafael Nadal has had quite an eventful year in 2022. The Spaniard won his 21st and 22nd Grand Slam titles back-to-back in Melbourne and Paris. He also welcomed a son, with fiancee María Francisca (Maria) Perelló Pascual, to his family.

The 36-year-old recently sat down with Marca and reflected back on the whirlwind 12 months. He spoke of the changes that have come into his life after the birth of his son, also named Rafael, in October. Nadal said he has had to better organise his schedule to be able to continue pursuing tennis.

The Spaniard was quick to highlight that fatherhood was something that he always envisioned as part of a post-retirement life. He added that he was lucky to have laster "much longer" on the Tour than his initial expectations.

"Well, of course it has been a drastic change," Nadal said. "But you have to organize yourself to be able to continue leading my professional life in the best possible way. I am happy, enjoying a new stage that was already playing as well."

"I always thought that all this would come when I retired," he continued. "That's what I always had in my head. The point is that my career, luckily, lasted much longer than I expected. So you have to learn to live with this new life stage and try to continue being as competitive as possible. I don't visualize my retirement because things change very quickly but I would like it to be on a track."

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"The first leg of the 2022 season was very, very exciting" - Rafael Nadal

Ndaal at the 2022 BNP Paribas Open.

Reflecting back on the 2022 season, Nadal said the first leg, which saw him lift the Australian Open title, was the most exciting and emotional part for him.

He described the Indian Wells semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz as a tipping point. He stated that the injuries, starting with a broken rib, derailed his progress in the second half of the season.

"Seen with perspective, the first leg of the season was very, very exciting and emotional, because it came from five very complicated months and the foot was not well," Nadal said. "Until Indian Wells I didn't lose any match -20 wins in a row-, but in the semifinal against Carlos (Alcaraz), at the end of the third set, that's when I broke my rib."

"That day, already in the locker room, I could barely breathe but I decided to play the final (against Taylor Fritz) because they told me it was probably a muscle spasm. Obviously, if I found out I had a broken rib, I wouldn't have played it. From there, the year was very difficult," he added.