Once again, as in other times, we gather in the belly of the RCTB, we wait for Rafael Nadal.
"It looks like a spinning room," Àngels Fàbregues tells me, who writes in Sport and has been here for almost as many years as I have, chasing the myth. I'm talking about this room, with these posters on the wall.
True, images of cyclists caged in a gym hang on the walls, like in one of those gyms that are so common.
Rafael Nadal (37) arrives late, as always, because the press conference should have been held at two and it's two twenty and there's no way, he doesn't show up.
Finally, the voices outside warn us.
The children waiting at the doors of the building shout:
-Rafa, Rafa!
And Rafa emerges.
The scenery is the same, so many memories, although this Nadal is different: he looks relaxed, he does not behave in tournament mode, that surly gesture, that arching of his eyebrows that he offered in other times, in other tournaments, when he only thought about winning and winning. and win again.
This relaxed Nadal, who had a fight with Hugo Dellien mid-morning, now snakes between the cameras and photographers, says good afternoon as he enters and takes center stage:
"At this point I'm in a different situation," he confesses. And more than regretting where I may have been or not, or what tournament I may have missed or not, it is a gift to be in Barcelona. I take it as my last year and I want to try to enjoy every moment. I'm just preparing, but I'm realistic. Being here is a great illusion.
(Well, after all, this is his second tournament this year, after having appeared in Brisbane in January, and in 2023 he had barely appeared on the scene, hampered by an abdominal problem that would end up costing him surgery and a range of months without touching a racket).
-But are you less excited to be here, taking into account that your options are fewer than at other times? -she asks him.
(And let's not forget, in the RCTB he has won twelve times).
-This occasion is not more exciting than others, I admit. Well, actually, they've all been important to me. But in this life it is what it is. There is a beginning and an end. I don't know what may happen in the future, but now I take it as my last participation in the Godó. Of course, I don't give up being competitive. I will not come out here to pay tribute to myself.
-And you don't feel doubts, after so many injuries and setbacks? Aren't you wondering if an injury, such as an abdominal injury, may reappear or suffer a new one?
-The abdominal problem? I carry it as best I can. We know what there is, the problems I have been having. I don't feel like talking about the abdominals, it's been like that for a long time. I get tired of counting my hardships. Many very good things have happened in my life, much better than the negative ones. It is true that if you cannot work as you would like, this can affect you mentally. Do I know what can happen, that I can get injured again? Yes, but we'll keep going until I feel like it's not worth it anymore. I don't set a deadline, but life shows you your path.
-And how do you see Alcaraz's injury? You two could have met in the semi-finals...
-I see it as negative for him, who has won twice here. I wish you a good and quick recovery. He was number 1 in the table and losing him is bad news. As for me, I'm not in the mood to think about the semi-finals.
Then he confesses that he is a little green in some circumstances of the game, for example in the serve, an element that he has barely been able to work on in recent months. He says that he is forced to live in uncertainty.
And when he gets up and disappears from the scene, some of us realize that we have not asked him about Flavio Cobolli, his rival this Tuesday...
