WEBVTT - For Rafael Nadal, Retirement Requires a Champion's Mindset 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:10.160 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.080 Tennis is one against the other. When the things are 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:18.919 going wrong, find a solution to change that dynamic, and 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:21.800 when the things start to go well, find a way 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:24.759 to keep going the same way. We were not able 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:26.720 to have a conversation with the code during the match, 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.320 So you are alone there and you need to survive 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:34.040 by yourself. You need to correct yourself, you need to 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:38.080 find solutions by yourself. So it's a mental battle about 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:39.879 the opponent and sometimes about yourself. 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:45.479 I'm Frantin Laqua and this is Leaders, the podcast that 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:49.320 explores what drives the world's most influential people. This week, 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:53.440 I'm speaking with tennis legend Rafael Nadel. He's won twenty 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:57.880 two Grand Slams, including fourteen French Opens, four US Opens 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:05.160 to winbuidence to Australian Open, and two Olympic Golds. Oh 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:14.600 my words, absolutely incredible from Raphael Natel. What's Away? Nadal 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:18.800 has been called the incomparable Spaniard and a relentless competitor, 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.920 and despite having retired in twenty twenty four, the tenacity 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:26.360 that characterized his performance in the game has followed him 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.720 off the court, diving headfirst into the world of business. 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:34.920 He's growing an empire of luxury properties, training academies, restaurants 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:38.959 and even an electric boat racing team. His latest venture 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.480 is the opening of Zelfort of Ventura, the fourth location 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:47.040 in his growing hotel partnership with Miliat Hotels, and that's 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.320 where I met Nadal for our conversation. It was an 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.000 opportunity to sit down face to face with the player 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:55.200 who led the world of men's tennis for most of 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:58.559 his career, with Nadal being the only player in history 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:01.920 to be ranked number one in three different decades, and 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:05.960 to ask him about the challenges behind the success, because 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:09.480 despite his dominance, Nadelle's road to the top wasn't always smooth. 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:14.120 We discussed how he faced career threatening injuries and high 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.760 profile rivalries, how he pulled off his Australian Open twenty 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:20.800 twenty two come back, and how he knew it was 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:28.000 time to retire. Raphil Nadal, thank you so much for 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.320 joining us on leaders. It's very well documented that you 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:34.040 suffered a lot of injuries. In fact, you said for 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:38.080 your first significant injury that tennis became a race against time. 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:41.040 What was it like living in constant fear of your 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:42.320 career potentially ending. 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.960 Will you adapted it because you have a tough injury 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.920 and the hope is not very positive. For a couple 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:51.800 of months, you don't know if you're going to have 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.840 the chance to keep going. Then when you were able 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:59.600 to come back and keep playing, you feel alive, you know, 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:03.800 and then you adapt yourself to live with that feeling 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.959 of I don't know if you're gonna be able to 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.960 keep playing tennis for one, for two or for ten years, 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.760 And at the end I played for sixteen more years. 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:15.840 You know that's the true. But I went through a 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:19.480 lot of challenges because of that first injury, but I 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.079 was able to keep going and lease the part satisfaction 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.760 to have the determination to find solutions to try to 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:30.280 keep being competitive and find a way to try to 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:34.800 have success with the new circumstances that your body presents 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:35.000 to you. 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:38.160 Do you think it put extra pressure on you? Did 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:40.240 you want to win even more? 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:42.920 No? No? For me the same. The only thing that, 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:47.800 of course effect is when you achieve things after having 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:52.480 this issue, probably you enjoy more that victories are more emotional. 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:57.640 You put the victory more in value for yourself, you know, 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:00.320 because sometimes when you are on the run that you 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:02.440 are winning. You want to keep winning. You want to 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.160 keep winning. Okay, let's stop and say okay, I want 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:07.760 to keep winning, but let's enjoy this moment. After the 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:09.800 things that I went through, I was able to enjoy. 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:14.760 The victory is probably more than if I will not 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:15.520 have this issue. 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.600 Two thousand and five was the year raffle On Nadele 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:27.680 won his first French Open, but it was also the year, 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:31.520 at just age nineteen, when he suffered a devastating foot 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:33.760 injury that followed him for the rest of his career. 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.279 Then in twenty twelve, there were knee problems, in twenty 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.440 twenty two he was on crutches, and finally in twenty 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:43.679 twenty three he faced a hip injury, which ultimately ended 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.960 his career. Now, for most people, this level of adversity 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:50.120 would have stopped them playing, but not in Nodule. Did 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:51.280 you ever feel invincible? 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.039 No at all. No. I always had doubts, and for me, 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.760 the doubts are good. Why for me at douts are 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:04.039 positive because allow you to go on court knowing that 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.920 I need to improve. Doesn't matter if I am having 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.640 success today, I need to be better to try to 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:15.680 keep having success. Tomorrow. That's doubts. The people that need 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:18.760 to lose to know that they have to improve things, 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:20.400 they don't have doubts. 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.279 You have to have doubts, but also not let those 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:26.200 doubts cripple you because you have to perform. This is 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:28.840 true for any leader, for anyone that wants to be 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:31.040 the best at what they do. Like, what's the right 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.560 balance between doubts and I guess bravado. 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:39.760 Of course you can have doubts or over doubt, but 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:44.120 doubts in terms of asking yourself if what you are 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:48.280 doing is enough for me, are positive because if not, 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:54.000 it's easy to say, Okay, I am winning, I'm super good, 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:58.240 Okay I keep practicing, but you lose this feeling of 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:03.000 going concord every day with the motivation and determination to 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:08.280 improve something. And for me, as a personal feeling, go 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:13.600 on court just for practice to be fit. Never work, 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.880 but well for me, never motivate me enough. My motivation 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:20.960 was always going concord with the determination to improve something, 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:23.200 and that really attracts me. 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:27.920 Tennis is often thought of as a solo sport, but 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:31.600 you can't overlook the power of rivalries. No doubts were 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.320 most notably was no Djokovic and Roger Federer. But what 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:40.440 role did these rivalries actually play motivating him? You really 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:43.480 also captured the imagination of people because of the rivalries 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.839 and also friendship with Jokovic and Roger Federer. What was 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:47.160 that like? 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.160 The rivalry have been a healthy rivalry from my point 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:56.200 of view, with huge respect between each other and putting 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.440 in perspective that we shared a lot of pressure moments 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:02.839 fighting for trying to be the best. 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:04.080 Did they make you better? 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:06.640 Without a doubt? Yes, we pushed each other to the 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.640 to the limits. Our rivalries help us to improve our 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:17.520 our level of tennis, our mentality, our level of bringing 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.720 our possibilities to the limit because we knew that if 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:25.400 we were not doing the things more or less the 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:29.120 perfect way almost every day, the other will be better 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:29.720 than us. 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.160 It's amazing you as had this friendship of court. 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.080 I think it's normal than wish when you shared a 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:42.920 lot of moments with your rivals, you have some love 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.440 for them because you are fighting for the same thing 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:50.560 all the time and at the end of the day, 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:54.880 we are achieving our dreams. So why we need to 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.360 fight in a negative way. We need to fight in 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:00.840 the tennis court as a players, it must. 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:02.680 Be very difficult to be at the top of your 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:06.360 game and with the pressure. Not many other people understand. 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:09.920 We had pressure, yes, because we have some attention. Because 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:14.280 tennis is is it difficult to support the way that 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:19.640 the score is going. You will be never relaxed because 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.280 you can lose in any situation. No, and you can 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:27.000 come back from every situation. And we are very lucky 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:32.240 people that we achieve what we wanted to achieve, in 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.280 my case, much more than what I ever dreamed. So 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:40.040 I can't complain a lot. And we had pressure, yes, 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:45.000 but everybody has pressure. For us, our pressure was healthy pressure. 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:48.840 Some people have not healthy pressure, dramatic pressure. 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.200 When you say you know you've achieved much more than 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:53.679 you thought you would, was there a moment that crystallize 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.520 that for you where you thought, actually, I'm exactly where 0:08:57.559 --> 0:08:58.200 I wanted to be. 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.920 I always felt myself very lucky person. I was able 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:07.000 to win a Master thousand, then a Grand Slam, then Olympics, 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:10.200 then more Grand slams. I had a professional tennis career 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:14.400 of twenty or twenty one years, having an injury that 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:22.240 almost retired myself when I was nineteen, So what else 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:23.000 can I ask. 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:25.960 I mean twenty two Grand Slams given all of the injuries, 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:27.840 how do you flect back on that? 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:31.680 For me, when I talk about victories, I don't put 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:34.960 the injuries on perspective. I want twenty two. No, I 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.120 don't want to create a fielding that. Okay, if I 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.200 will not have the injuries, I will achieve more. No, 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:41.240 that's what I achieved. 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:45.839 After the break Ruffle and Adele talks me through one 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:54.640 of the biggest comebacks of his career. Cast your mind 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:58.520 back to January twenty twenty two. We're in Melbourne. It's 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:02.760 the Australian Open final, Ruffel and Nadal versus Daniel Medvedev. 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.680 It's off to a bad start from a duck. He 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:11.199 loses the first set and the second set. He has 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:13.200 to win the third to stay in the game. In 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.040 a key moment, Nadal falls behind on his own serf. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.719 It's not looking good, but he saves three breakpoints. The 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:25.160 tide turns, the momentum changes, and after five hours and 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:29.920 twenty four minutes, Nadal clinches victory. The comeback is a 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:34.240 masterclass in crisis management. Reminded of what Nadell told me 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.280 about how in ten is you can come back from 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:39.480 the brink. Unlike any other sport, I want to tap 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:42.880 into the mind of the champion and understand how he 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:46.880 engineered the victory. There's some exceptional matches that you've done. 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:50.560 One of them was the Australia final in twenty twenty 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.360 two against Madvidev. Talk to me about that final. So 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:57.199 you're losing by two sets and something happens between the 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.400 second and the third set. What were you thinking? 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.840 Nothing happened because the change was in the second In 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:04.880 the second set, even if I lost that second set, 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.520 that the match already changed because the first set was 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:09.880 very clear for him, he was way better than me. 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.440 But then in the second set, the feeling was different. 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:15.080 I had a big chance to win that second sept. 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:18.000 But I lost that second sept. Of course, that was 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:23.800 a heartbreaking moment because I came back in Australia after 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.240 six months without playing on the tour for the food 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:31.880 So for me, it was it was difficult to imagine 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:34.720 myself coming back in a final against a great player 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:38.560 like Medvedev. At the same time, I was thinking, okay, 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.319 I was very unlucky in Australia during all my tennis career. 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:45.000 It's very difficult because physically I don't know if my 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:49.480 body will hold for the next three sets. But in 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:51.640 the other hand, I had Okay, I was very, very 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.719 unlucky all my life, so maybe this day will be 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:58.360 the opposite. So I was just was trying to give 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.160 me to give myself a chance all the time. 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.479 You make it sound very easy. It's not right. If 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:08.320 you're losing in such a big important game. You must 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:11.160 have a way of turning around, of saying, actually, you know, 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.200 I'm not giving up. It can't only be luck. 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:16.320 No, it's not lack of course, no luck. You need 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.760 to have some luck in every issue, in everything. In 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:23.079 a particular moment, yes, but you need to look for 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:24.880 that moment. You know. I need to fight for that 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.760 moment now. So it's about give yourself chances all the time. 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.240 And that's what I tried to do all my tennis career, 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.840 and that day was not an exception. I was losing, 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:38.160 but in my mind, don't think that after after I 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:42.160 lose the first two sets, don't think that I will. 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:43.920 In my mind was okay, I'm going to come back 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:47.959 for sure. No, in my mind was I am almost dead. 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:52.560 But I don't want to increase the problem of myself. 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:56.040 I want the other to bid me, I don't want 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:58.960 to help him to bid me. So let's keep going, 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:02.480 Let's try to do things to bother him a little bit, 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.040 and the dynamic of the match change it until the 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:10.000 third After saving that dramatic moment, the match I don't 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.600 say was more on my side because that's not the true, 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:16.120 but it's more or less equal. So when you win 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:19.440 that third set, a new match starts. And you know 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:21.720 that as a player, you have been in that position 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:23.200 a lot of times, and you have been in the 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:24.920 position of you are winning, and you have been in 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:28.439 the position that you are losing. So if you are 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.400 there till the end, maybe you're going to have a chance. 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:36.040 And that's what happened, And finally I was able to 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.719 step by a step, clim the mountain and come back. 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.400 So when a momentum shifts in a match, do you 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:46.640 play differently? Do you feel different? 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:53.560 No? But of course, step by step you start believing more, 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.680 more and more. First of all, don't lose the faith 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:02.720 when the things are going row, find a solution to 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.840 change that dynamic. And when the things start to go well, 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.120 find a way to keep going. The same way. It's 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:15.079 about point after point four or five hours. That's the 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:15.559 only way. 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:19.240 From my point of view, It's like resilience on steroids. Right. 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:22.080 Tennis is one against the other. When I was playing, 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:24.360 we were not able to have a conversation with the 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:27.120 code doing the match. So you are alone there and 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:31.720 you need to survive by yourself. You need to correct yourself, 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:35.320 You need to find solutions by yourself. So it's a 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:38.560 mental battle about the opponent and sometimes about yourself. 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:41.080 It must be also difficult because there are fans that 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.640 are quite close to you. How did you handle the crowds? 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:50.080 I think the fans always give me this extra motivation 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:56.520 to keep practicing when I was injured, to keep fighting 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.280 even a little bit more when when the match was 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:04.400 against me. I was a very intense player in my 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:08.360 private sessions, That's the true. No. I always practiced with 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:13.000 very high energy with zero people watching me. But with fans, 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.920 I think the adrenaline is different. Yeah, the feeling is 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.760 it's completely different. It's more emotional and the amount of 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:22.240 energy is higher. 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:26.520 You're also well known for having rituals. Did those help 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:28.160 for Was it comfort? 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.600 I needed them to stay one hundred percent focus on 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:34.240 what I was doing as simple as that was more 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:39.320 that than superstitious, because I have zero riduals outside of 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:41.880 the tennis court. I'm not a very superstitious guy, to 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:46.880 be honest. But on the tennis court, unfortunately, I needed 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:52.120 that routines. Why unfortunately because I would like to have 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:56.520 the same kind of concentration without that routines. I don't 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:58.720 like to see myself doing that routines. But I needed. 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.520 I tried to avoid them, but I needed them to 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.640 know that I was just focused on what I needed 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:06.880 to be. 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.920 But it's just something that's familiar I mean of doing. 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.680 Yeah, but if you ask me if you want to 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:17.440 have that or don't, I say I prefer don't. But 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.280 I needed them and I was humble enough to do it. 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:29.560 In October twenty twenty four, Raffle Nadell announced he was retiring. 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.520 He said it wasn't a decision he came to lightly injury, 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.560 following Adele his whole career looming over him and even 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.440 threatening to take away his dream before it fully began. 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:42.760 But I wanted to know how this slite athlete confronted 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.080 the question we all face at one point, how do 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:48.760 you know when it is the right time to go. 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:53.880 In twenty twenty four, you announced that you were retiring. 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:56.720 Do you remember the moment that you decided that was 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:57.840 it was the right time. 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:05.040 Yeah. I decided to retire in Bostad twenty twenty four. 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:10.240 I give myself around a year after my hip surgery 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:15.159 to see if my body will come back or my 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:20.359 hip will come back at the normal position like before 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:25.840 the surgery. And after a lot of weeks trying and 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:31.120 practicing and competing and without feeling myself comfortable on court 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:36.840 and feeling myself that with that hip, I will not 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:40.760 fight again for the things that really motivates me. Was 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.400 the moment to say, okay, I am done. I need 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:44.800 to stop. 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:46.840 People around you were advising that maybe it was the 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:48.639 right time to retire. Did you feel that you were 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:51.600 retired on your own terms, that it was really your decision. 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:57.640 Yeah, if probably, I didn't want to talk a lot 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:01.480 about that, and I don't want it to be influenced 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:06.760 for the media and for the people from outside. Now 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.639 it's something personal. You need to be sure when you 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:13.760 make that kind of decision, because when you say it's over, 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.399 it's over, and you need to be one hundred percent 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.320 sure that is the right moment, and if it's not 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:26.840 your personal decision, maybe I will be today doing this 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:31.920 interview thinking that maybe I should be playing tennis, and 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:34.640 I had the percent sure that I make the right 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:35.720 decision at the right moment. 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:38.360 So when people said, look, maybe it's time to retire 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.520 and you didn't agree, did you know? 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:44.560 It never bothered me. But I try to not put 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.680 many attention because they don't know the real stuff. They 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:50.879 don't know how I feel. They don't know exactly how 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.199 I am every single day. They don't know what the 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:56.840 doctors told me and what the process is being. So 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:00.919 I need to make my own decisions with the people 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:02.119 that I trust the most. 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.080 It feels like the new chapter is just as busy. 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:06.480 So when your new hotel, you have a number of 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:09.480 hotels of business interests, what do you think comes next 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:10.320 in terms of business? 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:14.840 I want to explore more. I just retired one year 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:18.159 and a half ago, but have been a lot of 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:21.439 stuff since I stopped playing tennis non stop, so I 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:27.879 have been traveling, working hard. Of course, the Zell hotel 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.800 brand is growing. Here is the fourth opening in for 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:33.320 the Ventura, and by the end of the year going 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:36.199 to be seven. We are in the process of spending 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.960 the rafaan Altennis Academy. I dedicate time to my foundation 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:42.879 to keep growing, keep helping more and more kids and families. 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.040 So yeah, I want to explore and it's great to 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:50.359 share all these experiences with leaders on each sector, people 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:54.200 that are successful. So for me, it's a great experience 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:55.120 and I'm enjoying that. 0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:57.040 You talk a lot about growth. You could be sitting 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:57.560 on a beach. 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:00.320 I am not the kind of person that like to 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.560 wake up every morning. I don't know what to do. 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:05.000 That's as simple as that. I need to have goals 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:07.399 in my life. Even if I am very lucky and 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.240 I could decide to do an other stuff, just stay 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:14.040 at home without plannings, but I don't understand the life 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:18.160 that way. I am enjoying this process, and yeah, it's 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:19.879 intense but interesting. 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:23.080 Last year, Maria Sharapova told Bloomberg that there's no match 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:27.199 point in business, so she misses those designing kind of 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:28.639 breakpoint moments. 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:31.879 Of course, a different different approach. I mean, in sports 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:36.080 you need to make decisions in a fraction of seconds, 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:40.720 you know. In business it's a different stuff. You know, 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:42.760 for example, that kind of As I said before, I 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:45.159 think we are only in major career six hundred and 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:48.080 fifty workers. You know, it's a big responsibility, knowing that 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:53.080 a lot of families depends on you are doing well 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:58.560 or not. And I am very interesting on learn more 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:02.879 about how our company can keep growing and have the 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:05.920 ambition to grow, but a healthy ambition, you know, doing 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:06.600 the proper way. 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:10.240 You played tennis for twenty three years eleven months a year. 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:13.040 Would you miss about it the most? Do you miss it? 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:20.560 No? Not now? No. I always would be very thankful 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:24.080 to tennis for all the experiences that I enjoyed thanks 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:26.640 to tennis. In my mind, in a part of my mind, 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:30.879 I always will be a tennis player. But I finished 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:34.840 my career because it was nothing else to offer, you know. 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:42.919 So I don't miss tennis because I accepted. Since I 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:46.920 make that decision, that was the end for me. I 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:50.080 was not able to keep going the way that I 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:52.600 needed to keep going, you know, when they had plenty 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:55.000 of issues. So I bring my body over the limit, 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:58.879 I think. So I am in peace with myself and 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:02.800 enjoying this new chapter my life. 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:08.240 Rapid fire questions. Are you ready? I hope what's the 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:10.040 best piece of advice you've ever received? 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:13.080 Copy what you like from the dollars. 0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:16.199 As a child, you played both tennis and football. Do 0:22:16.240 --> 0:22:19.680 you think you would have been as successful at football 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:21.159 as you have been at tennis? 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:23.879 I mean the chances are very little. 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:25.720 Why do you say that? 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:29.680 Because in tennis I am probably one of the best 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:32.480 players of the history. So if I decide all the 0:22:32.480 --> 0:22:34.000 way things that I will be one of the best 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:36.000 players of the history of football. Let's say it is 0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:37.960 difficult that you have both possibilities. 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:40.160 Roughen Adan, thank you so much for joining us. 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:40.680 Thanks a lot. 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:52.240 Thanks for listening to this episode of Leaders with Me 0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:55.560 Friends in Lackwall the podcast. If you like our show, 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:58.680 please rate, review and subscribe. It means a lot. It 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:01.159 will help more people find the show. And if you 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:03.440 want to watch the show, please find us on YouTube. 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:06.879 This episode was hosted by me Francis Laqua. It was 0:23:06.920 --> 0:23:10.960 produced by Atalandi Dixon, Samersadi and Moses and dam Amy 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:14.679 Keen as the executive producer of Talk Podcasts. Sound designed 0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:16.640 by Blake Maples and Aaron Casper.