World number one Rafael Nadal said he’s looking forward to compete at the ATP 500 Rio Open which begins on February 17, Monday. The Spaniard pulled out of this week’s Copa Claro in Buenos Aires due to a stomach virus. The Australian Open 2014 finalist has started practicing for the event.
“Today, I started training a bit to see if the thing is going well and I can play in Rio. I bought tickets,” Nadal said in an interview with Onda Cero.
Nadal said that he wanted to honor all his commitments but just couldn’t do so this week due to the illness.th.
“It’s that you have a commitment to the tournament for a while. The idea is to fulfill your commitments. Pulling out of Buenos Aires has not been pleasant.”
“The physical demands come from the matches I win, the more you win, the more demands you have. I prefer to have more demands and win more than to have a really bad year. When I’m done with all of this, there will be time for the body to recover. An athlete’s life, I think, is about playing with pain,” he was quoted as saying.
