PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI
Rafael Nadal elaborates on the enjoyment of his time in South America in February. Pete Ziebron Images
This February, Rafael Nadal returned to the tennis court from injury for the first time since his stunning 2nd round departure at Wimbledon 8 months earlier. During that long time away from action, Nadal missed the 2012 US Open and 2013 Australian Open.
Nadal chose his return to the game on his terms and decided to make his 2013 debut in South America and play all 3 clay court tournaments in Latin America in February. Ironically, Nadal had not played a tournament in South America since 2005.
With the 2014 World Cup set to take place in Brazil and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, I asked Nadal yesterday to elaborate on his experience during his time playing in South America.
"I really enjoyed it a lot. It was a very, very important and positive three tournaments that I played there in Latin America. I really enjoyed everyone, and the crowd was just amazing. It was a very important tournament for me for the rest of the season."
Rafael Nadal fared well in the three tournaments, reaching the final in his first tournament in Vina del Mar, Chile and winning the next two in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Acapulco, Mexico. His success in these events helped lay the foundation for yet another successful spring season as Nadal would go 31-1 following the Latin American swing, winning at Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome as well as collecting his 8th Roland Garros title.
Although Vina del Mar and Sao Paulo are 250 level tournaments, Rafael Nadal plays each tournament to win as he explained in yesterday's press conference at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati:
"I try my best if I'm playing 250, 500, 1000, in a Grand Slam. I don't play with different intensity when I'm losing. I take every match like another one.
You will never hear from my mouth say, Okay, I didn't try my best today because it's a small tournament because I never do it, and I never will do it. I try my best in every one."
Nadal's statement was very similar to the answer to a question I posed to him in 2010 when I asked if him about playing in Cincinnati in order to better prepare for the US Open, a tournament that he would win a few weeks later.
"I don't play this tournament to prepare the US Open; I play these tournaments because these tournaments are very important for me."
Whenever Rafael Nadal states that anything is "very important" to him, he has a serious demeanor and says it with passion as he did yesterday when he continued to expound on his time in South America:
"Latin America is a place that is becoming very, very important. The economy is healthy, and they are promoting a lot of very, very important sport events in the next few years. And that's a great news for those countries and great news for the world of sport, because the crowd and the passion for the sport in that country is huge.
So I really plan to be back there."
Although the calendar reads August, 2013, sports fans in South America are eagerly waiting for the 2014 World Cup, the Rio Olympics in 2016 and as confirmed yesterday in his press conference in Cincinnati, the return of Rafael Nadal.
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