Entretien Corriere della Sera

Interview en italien

Nadal: "A 19 anni mi dissero che non avrei più giocato. Federer? Uno dei più grandi"

DAL NOSTRO INVIATONon ci credo. MANACOR (Maiorca, Spagna) - "Guardi che io ogni volta me la faccio sotto". Tredici vittorie su tredici finali a Parigi. Non è mai successo: nella storia del tennis ...

https://www.corriere.it/sport/20_novembre_01/rafael-nadal-intervista-djokovic-federer-7dabe1b4-1b8d-11eb-be91-5d9fe2674d18.shtml

Q. Unlike many of your colleagues who have taken refuge in tax havens, you pay your taxes in Spain. Are you proud of being Spanish?

Rafa: I'm Spanish. And I'm happy to be so. Of course, when the tax bill arrives, I'm a little less happy, but I've had the good fortune to be born in a country with many virtues, which gave me a good life.

Q. What are you afraid of? It's said darkness, dogs

Rafa: Those are just jokes. I'm afraid of illness. I'm afraid for those I love.
 

Q. You're named after your grandfather, Rafael Nadal, musician.

Rafa: Conductor. After the civil war he brought Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to the village. He later conducted Alfredo Kraus, the tenor. I was very close to my grandfather. His death was a terrible pain.

Q. People wonder what's the reason for your ritual: the 2 sips of water from 2 bottles, not to walk on the lines... Superstition?

Rafa: No. I'm not superstitious. Otherwise, I'd change the ritual with each defeat. I'm not even a slave to the routine: my life changes constantly, always traveling. And competing is very different from training. What you call tics is a way of putting my head in order, for me, who usually am very messy. It's a way to focus and silence the voices within. In order not to listen to the voice that tells me that I will lose, or to the one, even more dangerous, that tells me that I will win.

Q. You have been with the same woman all your life. When did you meet her?

Rafa: We've known each other since forever, ever since we were kids. Mery is my point of stability.

Q. Is it true that behind your 2009 crisis there was the crisis between your parents?

Rafa: It's true. That year they separated, although only for a period. I suffered very much from it because without my family I would have done nothing.
 

Q. It is usually said that you're less talented than Federer. However, some deny it. What do you think?

Rafa: What is talent? Each of us has his own talent. To some it all comes easy, others know how to stay on court for longer.

Q. Are you right or left wing?

Rafa: Don't make me talk about politics.

Q. Not even about King Juan Carlos?

Rafa: He may have made some mistakes, but let us always remember what he did for Spain.

Q. Do you believe in God?

Rafa: I don't know, and I don't ask myself. For me the important thing is to behave well, to help those in need. I believe in good people. And if after all God exists, it'll be wonderful.

Q. How do you imagine the afterlife?

Rafa: I don't imagine it.

Q. Why do you never throw your racket?

Rafa: Because as a child I was taught that it must not be done. It is me who makes mistakes, not the racket.

[Merci à Genny pour la traduction des ces extraits]