00:00I heard him say that he has no regrets because he gave everything.
00:03I think if someone can say that, more than anyone else, it's him.
00:09I think the retirement of Rafa is a surprise.
00:11We expected it for next year.
00:13I would really expect him to push until Rangarros and then retire.
00:16He's the greatest of all times in Rangarros, on clay in general,
00:20but in Rangarros especially, which is a Grand Slam.
00:22For the last two years, he's unable to even practice the way he wants.
00:26When you're not able to practice,
00:28you cannot perform at the highest level.
00:30And I think for someone like him to be playing 30% or 40% of what he can do
00:34and losing too many times, too often.
00:36Last Rangarros, he was maybe 50, 60%.
00:39He was playing well, but he could not move at all the way he used to.
00:43And it affects his whole game.
00:45When he reaches the ball, a lot of times he's not in a good position.
00:48He's missing much more than usual.
00:50He's not as consistent as he used to be.
00:52And we know that tennis is so much about movement and movement is key,
00:55not only to bring balls back, but to be consistent.
00:58You know, it's a base that players need.
01:00Probably even him more than anyone else,
01:02because he was probably one of the most consistent players of all times.
01:05Roughest forehand, yes.
01:06Probably the best ever.
01:12First is lefty, which gives him even an extra edge.
01:15But I think the quality of his ball,
01:17the difficulty for the opponent to control his ball,
01:20the explosiveness of his topspin,
01:23the fact that he was able to play extremely high
01:25with an extremely high bounce,
01:27his accuracy, his ability to change rhythm,
01:30how fast he was to turn around his backhand
01:32and hit this inside-out forehand with a short zone,
01:35but also down the line.
01:36I used to say that when the opponent was touching his forehand once,
01:40then he would start running and never stop.
01:46I think the only way to pretend having one day a better forehand than Rafa
01:51would be probably to be able to accelerate fast balls
01:55as well as he was accelerating lower balls.
01:58But even this, he improved so much throughout his career.
02:01At the start of his career,
02:02when the ball was coming very fast on his forehand,
02:04he was slowing down the pace.
02:06At the end of his career, he was able to re-accelerate.
02:08So, I mean, even the flows,
02:11the little, little flows that he had at the start of his career,
02:14as he's an incredible worker,
02:15he's been able to close the gap.
02:17And at the end of his career, even on those balls, be very dangerous.
02:20And he was dangerous also at every height.
02:22He was under the knee.
02:24That's why I always said that Roger should never slice his backhand against him
02:27because he had absolutely zero problem on slice.
02:29More than that, he was able to put the opponent in trouble every time.
02:32So under the knee, at hip level,
02:35between hip and shoulder, but also over the shoulder,
02:37he was able to hit flat incredibly fast.
02:39So there was no situation in which Rafa's forehand was not doing incredible damage.
02:44I think Rafa's legacy is very much about the values.
02:48The fact that he was one of the biggest fighters of all times,
02:52an incredible competitor and someone who gave 100%
02:57in every single situation of his professional life.
03:00And that's very rare, not only in the matches,
03:02but also at practice for all those who have seen him practice.
03:05The intensity that he was giving on every ball at every practice
03:08is something that is unusual.
03:11Also, his courage is not someone who was complaining.
03:14He's very, very, very close to the ultimate values of a professional athlete.
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