Petkovic, who also discussed Nadal and Federer and the adversity the former faced in his career due to his rival, debated long and hard the intricacies surrounding the end of Nadal’s career on Substack. But she said that Boris Becker, when talking to her, hinted that it was like a drug and that it ended up becoming unhealthy for Nadal and that it looked like it was harming him.
Nadal recently exited the Davis Cup final with a loss to Botic van de Zandschulp, but he only did so because, like other legends in their twilight years – from Andy Murray to Roger Federer to Juan Martin del Potro – it was obvious it was no longer possible to play at this top level. But some continue to fight and others accept their fate.
“Boris [Becker]I know I keep mentioning him, but I’ve been seeing him a lot lately and he said to me, ‘It’s like a drug. Tennis is like a drug.’ He said: ‘Winning titles is a drug, playing on Center Court is a drug,'” Petkovic said. “I think with Rafa you could see when it became an addiction, when it became harmful to your life . You could tell he was starting to neglect his nature, you could see it was unhealthy, he was hurt all the time, you could see it in his face. “Rafa is generally not the most relaxed person,” she added.
