Nadal’s common denominator: Learning, no matter what

With Roland Garros now down to the semi-final stage, one of the highlights of the 2025 edition of the Grand Slam major remains the emotional tribute to record 14-time men’s singles champion Rafael Nadal, who retired last November. During his return visit to the Grand Slam event where he dominated for so long, Nadal offered some reflections on his stellar career.

The holder of 22 Grand Slam titles and 14-time winner of the Coupe de Mousquetaires at Roland Garros made many mistakes during his career. However, he always came through his errors with the help of a word that was never far from his lips during over two decades among the elite: ‘learning’.

“Of course I did things wrong. Of course I made mistakes. Of course I would change some things I’ve done in my life, there’s no doubt,” said the Spaniard. “I’m not the kind of person who says, ‘No, I wouldn’t change a thing’. I’ve never been that arrogant and I frequently made mistakes, but since I can’t change them, I try to learn from my errors.”

Nadal only has to look back to his last appearance in Rome, in 2024, to find something he would change if he could. It happened after bowing out to Hubert Hurkacz in his opener in the Foro Italico. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, the Spaniard is in no doubt that he would do things differently given the chance.

“Last year in Rome thousands and thousands of people were waiting on the bridge after I lost my match. They were hoping to give me a send-off and I wasn’t ready,” admitted the Mallorcan. “So if you were to ask me what I’d change... Of course I would have stayed 15 minutes to say thank you and talk to them, if I’d known at the time.

“It was an uncomfortable situation for me because I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to retire. Those are the times you make mistakes. So yes, I made a mistake then and I should have stayed longer. It was what I was feeling at that time and I didn’t want feelings of retirement to invade my thoughts in any way. Because that would rob me of a genuine chance to keep fighting to recover. It’s just one example. There are many other things I’ve done wrong and mistakes I’ve made, but I try to learn from them.”

A legacy that will last forever, Merci Rafa ❤️@rolandgarros @RafaelNadal #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/UPYUzF2M4D

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 25, 2025

Nadal has always learned from his mistakes, both on and off the court, but did he also learn from the defeats? Perhaps surprisingly, he did not, for the Mallorcan it was quite the opposite.

“I learned a lot more from wins than from defeats. I always said that, because I was critical enough of myself for my wins to help me find things I needed to improve,” reasoned Nadal. “I didn’t need to lose to understand what I had to improve. Defeats are a blow, a disappointment and they put you in your place, but I’ll never need that in order to keep improving.

“Even so, what I did get from defeats, in my case, was putting everything I was achieving into perspective. Therefore, defeats also ensure you value wins much more and in a more special way.”

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es