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ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

October 28, 2018

Rafael Nadal

Paris, France

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.

Q. First of all, welcome back. When you are in a recovery phase for training you can't put a lot of stress on your knees. What are the techniques that you use that are most successful in allowing you to continue training?
RAFAEL NADAL: I slow down a little bit the intensity of course. Practicing. I stop for a while after the US Open so then I started to practice slow step by step. And that's it. Here I am. Happy to be here.

And is nothing new for me. Something that happened in my career a couple of times. So more or less we know the process and we know the thing that works good to us, things that not works good. And we try to do our way with calm and being staying positive every day.

Knowing that the things are not changing very quick in this type of injuries. And that's it. We know that. We take care about all the feelings. And we go day by day.

Q. How is the knee and when did you know 100% that you would be in Paris?
RAFAEL NADAL: As I say, just seconds ago. I just go day by day, no? I am happy to be here. I am having better feelings on court. I am practicing a little bit more every day. And, yeah, trying to improve the positive feelings. That's all what I can say today, no?

This city so special for me. So that's little bit more motivation to be here.

So just happy to be on court again and just happy to be practicing with the guys here on tour, to practice already, remain a couple of days to start. And just am looking for the next practice. That's all what I can say today.

I am not thinking about big improvements or big things. I am just thinking about small improvements, and that's the goal.

Q. So Rafa, during the recovery time you've also had an opportunity to work with the academy, celebrating its second anniversary, and then the opening of the Mexico site. How important is your mother in the supporting role with the academy, with the foundation?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, my mother is taking more care about the foundation, not the academy.

But probably for everybody a mother is so important, no? And being from a small village, as I said hundreds of times, have the family next to me and have the chance to be in touch with the family, have been a decisive help for me. I feel the support of the people that you love more is so important and in terms of educations, in terms of values.

I think that's for me one of the most important things that I have in my life is the family and the friends that being from a not big city. I have the chance to be in touch with all of them.

And with the academy, yes, happy the things are going well. We are opening a new destination in Mexico in Costa Mujeres. In Mallorca and Monaco we are doing the things well. We are around 128 today kids, girls and boys, living there and studying and practicing there. And we are growing.

So that's important for me. And for me main thing, most important thing is just to go step by step but doing the right things. We want to have the right services for all of them because, of course, they are young, they are kids, families. They send the kids, their son or daughter in our academy. So they send probably the thing that they love more in their lives, no? So we can't do the negative things on that way.

So we try to educate them in the right way and to try to help them in general things. But of course, tennis is the main thing.

Q. With the academy, how important is it for you to leave a mark on tennis beyond just, you know, inspiring people with your results?
RAFAEL NADAL: I love the sport. I am a big fan of the sport. I have academy just next to my house is an important way to keep being involved on the sport that I have been playing and practicing forever, since I born almost.

And inside the center there is not only tennis. We prepare tennis players in the professional way, but we create a multi-sport center that people from the around the world is coming to spend a week, two weeks there. And that makes me happy. And at the same time the local people are enjoying the facilities. There's a good atmosphere there and I'm happy to see that the things are going the way that I dreamed.

Q. In December you're going to play two exhibitions; one in Mallorca, I think, for the people of San Lorenzo, and another one in Jeddah. For the first one I would like to know who is going to play. Do you have some details on what you're going to do in Mallorca? And for the second one, I think you're aware that some people, politicians, NGOs, ask questions about your trip to Saudi Arabia and I would like to know what you think about those concepts. Thank you.
RAFAEL NADAL: First answer is the information will go day by day and just talking with the players and of course some support. Was terrible all the things that happen in the village next to my house, and not only one, just a few villages but especially San Lorenzo, that have been, yeah, something very difficult to describe.

Had the chance to be there the day after the disaster, and if you were not there, you can't imagine how the things were inside that village.

So I have a lot of family there in the village. The family from my mother, you know, my grandmother, sisters and all the family from that side are from there. So I have a big connection with all of them.

So yeah, we are trying to create something to catch some money for the people that lost everything in terms of material values because people who lost life is nothing to do. So yeah, it's been very, yeah, very tough days at home. Was very next to me. So I really suffered and all the people from around suffered and a lot of people help, help a lot, but still days where you lost lives. Yeah. Things are so sad.

About the second answer, yeah, of course I'm aware of all the situation. But I had a commitment since one year ago to play there. And my team is talking to them, to analyze the things. That's it.

As you know, when these kind of things happens and it's terrible that one journalist lost the life. I know something happened very bad inside there. So we are looking about how evolves the situation and I hope the things will clarify as soon as possible.

Q. You're talking about really bad events that have happened. It's been impossible for you to think about anything else than that. And how important has the support, some of the support you've received from Roger Federer and other people, how important has that been for you?
RAFAEL NADAL: Oh, is great that the people from around the world send us the support. Is the real thing. All the players knows how important is Mallorca to me and, yeah, and the disaster have been just like 6 kilometers away from where I live. So I was at home and the rain never stopped.

So, yeah, some people who passed away, especially the mother and the son, I know them. They are cousins of one of my best friends. So I lived the situation from very inside and I really saw the drama of all these people looking for the kid.

Yeah, that's part of this life and is a very unlucky situation that, yeah, is very almost impossible to recover from something like this.

But in some way, the only thing that we can do is just try to support them in terms of try to help them to recover all the things that they lost.

And as I said before, humans loses, there's nothing to do.

Q. With Novak's win at the US Open, you're the top three players again, you, Roger, and Novak. It was the same thing years ago. Do you think that the other players are unlucky to have played in your generation where there are a lot fewer chances for them?
RAFAEL NADAL: You can ask them. I don't know. I am part of it. So it's not easy for me to talk about it.

I am just happy to be part of it. Have been a lot of years competing for the most important things a couple of players. So that's it. Seems like for one more year we're going to finish in the top positions of the ranking and already we won the most important events of the year more or less. So I am no one to analyze if that good for tennis or not good for tennis. I'm just happy to be part of it.

And there's a new young and very good generation that will have time to achieve a lot of things in their careers. And we are not 20 anymore so we will have the chances and they are very good. So let's see and let's wait to see how the tennis evolves the next couple of months and years.

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