Rafael Nadal reveals COVID-19 made him question if he should "keep playing", says Laureus award was "emotional" & "unexpected"

Rafael Nadal's exploits over the past one year earned him the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award on Thursday. The Spaniard won a record-extending 13th Roland Garros title in 2020, simultaneously equalling Roger Federer's all-time record for 20 Grand Slams, which was the main reason why he was selected for the prestigious accolade.

However, things could have been much different for Rafael Nadal. In a recent interview, the 34-year-old revealed that the COVID-19 crisis had made him take serious stock of his priorities. He also claimed that the pandemic-related doubts played a big part in his decision to skip the defence of his US Open title.

"For me, personally, it (the pandemic) has been tough," Rafael Nadal told The Telegraph. "It was difficult for me to keep going after the lockdown. The circumstances made me think about what was the right decision for my career: if I keep playing, or stop for a little more? It was not an easy decision."

"So I missed the US Open last year - that was tough, but it was a decision that I needed to take," he added. "And then I just played Rome and Roland Garros. Finally, I was able to have success there."

Rafael Nadal has been one of the loudest voices in tennis encouraging sensitivity towards the prevailing global situation. The Spaniard has often called on his colleagues to have perspective about the devastation caused by the pandemic, something he touched upon further during the interview.

"It has been a tough year, I really believe, for everyone," the 34-year-old said. "If you are not completely arrogant, everybody needs to be less happy under these very difficult circumstances around the world, no? Because you have a lot of people suffering, a lot of people have lost a family member, a lot of people are losing their companies, their job."

Don't think it is a good thing to stop the body dramatically like we had to do during lockdown: Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

During the course of the interview Rafael Nadal also touched upon how the past year has been tough on him physically, with lockdowns forcing him to "stop" his body.

"For me personally, it was not an easy year. I don't think it is a good thing to stop the body dramatically like we had to do for two months," the Spaniard said. "We had lockdown, then when you come back – especially with older bodies that have [clocked up] a lot of kilometres – it is difficult to do so at the highest level. But I really believe that we managed it well."

Rafael Nadal was known to be a very busy player during his prime, but with advancing age he has started cutting out events from his schedule. The Spaniard has participated in just seven events over the past 14 months, and he attributed the reduced workload to his age, the pandemic and also the prioritization of his 'happiness'.

"I didn't play many tournaments [this year], only Australia before Monte Carlo," Rafael Nadal said. "Every decision is respectful under the circumstances. And for me I make decisions thinking about my happiness, more than anything else. That's why I'm not playing that much. But I have developed the competitive spirit that I had when I had been playing [more]."

Happy with 20 Grand Slams, but that doesn't mean I don't want 21: Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal with the 2020 French Open trophy

Rafael Nadal expressed his happiness at winning the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award for the second time in his career. While he claimed each award is special, the 20-time Grand Slam champion admitted the latest one was particularly emotional and unexpected.

"Every one is special, no? I don't know if it's the most emotional for me, but this is probably the most unexpected," Nadal said.

On the face of it, Novak Djokovic had a much better year than Rafael Nadal in 2020. The Serb won the Australian Open, as well as the Rome Masters, the Western & Southern Open, and the Dubai Open. He even consolidated his position as year-end World No. 1 for a sixth time, thus equalling Pete Sampras' all-time record.

Rafael Nadal acknowledged that he may well have received the award mainly because he equalled Roger Federer's Slam record.

"Well, I am happy with 20," Nadal asserted. "It doesn't mean that I don't want 21! But yes, of course, probably [I won] this Laureus award because of equalling the number of Roger."

📣 The 2021 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year is....@RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/Ubp0GdBz4X

— Laureus (@LaureusSport) May 6, 2021

The Spaniard was reluctant to talk about his extraordinary achievements on the claycourts of Paris, but he finally admitted that he may have been "a little bit better" than the field at Roland Garros. He also claimed that winning titles, while always a difficult task, has become even tougher as he has got closer to his mid-30s.

"I hate to talk about me in that way," Rafael Nadal said. "But of course to repeat the title for these 13 times, in some way you need to be a little bit better than the others in that tournament. Because if you are equal, it's very difficult to be lucky enough to achieve all this."

"Winning titles, for me, has always been difficult," he added. "And today for sure is even more difficult, because at the age of 35 (he turns 35 in June), normally it is more difficult to win titles than when you are 25."

The 34-year-old went on to claim that he is looking forward to life away from tennis, but is happy with his game right now and is not considering retirement yet.

"After my tennis career, I think I have enough interesting things to do in my future," Rafael Nadal said. "But today, I'm happy to do what I'm doing. I can't predict my future, but I'm not worried about that. When the day arrives, I will know."