Michael Burgess: NZ Herald sports journalist on Rafael Nadal's retirement from tennis

Published Nov 20, 2024, 7:58 AM

Rafael Nadal has played his last ever match at the top flight of international tennis.

His Spanish team has lost to the Netherlands at the Davis Cup

Tennis tragic Michael Burgess was there in 2004 when Nadal played in Auckland. He spoke to D'Arcy Waldegrave about Rafa's long career - and the next ASB Classic's lineup - on Sportstalk.

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You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave from News Talk ZEDB.

We'll join now on sports Talk by Michael Burgess, a multi media sports writer and an absolute tennis tragic.

That's a fair thing to call you, isn't it, mister Burgess? And welcome.

Absolutely absolutely tennis nut from way back. And I'm so excited around this time of year that ask because this is when we start talking about our tennis season, isn't it.

Yeah, And it's when the releases keep coming. We know a lot of the field for the ASP Classic for the women, but the men's names are coming. Game on Feast is the latest person to be released. He's got a special place in tennis, hasn't it. He's quite the character, mister more Fez.

He's amazing. I mean, I've watched a lot of tennis over the years and to see someone as entertaining as him. He's so charismatic on the court, plus his shot making. I mean, if I think back, I've been covering the Asby Classic a long time and two of the most memorable matches I've covered both involved him. One was in January he lost a three sets thriller and the other was against Tommy Hasse way back in twenty thirteen in a quarter file. So he's just he's just magic to watch. The crowd loves watching him play, and it's just he's the kind of guy that excites everyone, that sells tickets. And he's still he's still at a good level. He's thirty eight years old, Dace, which is pretty old for a tennis player, but he's still on number fifty five. And the other thing is he had pretty solid year and he beat a couple of top ten players, including Carlos Algarez, so he's still pretty impressive.

He's been a professional now for well over twenty years. How does he keep.

At the top of his game like that superb fitness. He's maybe got a bloody minded attitude toward what he does. How has he been around so long such a physical sport.

Yeah, it's a good question, mate, because you're right, twenty one years on tour and one of the most physical sports where the players coming through younger and younger. I asked him about that when he came this year and he said, you know, he still trains pretty hard. He's got a bit smarter, but basically just still loves the sport because he's he doesn't have to be doing this, but he's still likes driggling the world and playing tennis and people still love watching him play. So he's pretty disciplined with his training. Even though he's got he's got a family now, he's got a young daughter, and he's still got he's still got all the shots. You know, he's slowing down, but he's always been really quick on the court, so you know, he's still really competitive. We don't know if next year will be his last year. It might be, but it's just fantastic he's coming back to Akland because he's only been here. I think it's this will be his fourth visit from memory. He's tried to come a few times and had injuries and things like that. So the fact that he's going to be coming two years in a row, it's just magic. I think.

Is he a threat?

Will he actually get through and cause a ruckus? Is he a quarter finalists a semi finalist?

God for big? Could he actually win the whole thing?

I mean, if you got going, he can beat anyone on his day. I think the challenge for Gail now is backing up, you know, backing up one performance after the other. But he reached a couple of semi finals this year, which is semi Finland Doha. Doh has a big tournament, big money has always has a descent field, so he certainly can. I mean, I think the drawer's got to be kind. He's pretty unlucky lart Or this year January with the drawer, he got a pretty tough, talented young Hungarian super fit. So it depends on the draw. But yeah, I mean, if he gets rolling, gets confident, he's certainly a guy that can make a run in this tournament. He'll be a dark horse in the field and no one will want to draw him first round and.

Draws fattening up got me.

Hence ideas nudges around who else might sign because obviously there's limit on rankings and who can actually turn up. You got an idea about where they may be heading the tournament directors.

Well, women's field is looking like you says, looking pretty pretty sharp with Nomo Saka Emarti, Kanu lu Lusan. That's has three massive names there. The men's field have announced Cameron Nora, They've got my Feast. They've announced Ben Shelton, the American who's been a couple of times now and he's a top twenty player. He's been once, he's been, he's been Top fifteen, he's made a Grandsloon semi finals. He's he's all class. I think they've got a couple of young, you know, players on the rise coming. I assume they'll be top fifty. They'll be young, kind of the next generation, they hope, but not sure if they've got any more big names to come. He's still working on that or not. But it'll be a it'll be an impressed the field, but certainly the women's field really catches the eye.

Any chance we could lure an old Spaniard over because he's finished playing, Oh, I suppose it's still professional, is it? Did you think rapping and down now that he's hanging up as racket might just roll over for a bit of a look.

He must love it over here. Sure has he been here.

He's been here twice us and he was part of the reason I started loving tennis. I mean I love tennis from the eighties with Stephan Edburgh and Pat Cash and Brus Becker. But Raffa came to Auckland in two thousand and four and that was my first year down there kind of as a journalist. He was seventeen, couldn't speak English, muscles on muscles, wearing a single at the long hair, and he was world number about fifty fifty fifty three fifty four from memory, and so we knew this guy potential. But you know, he just he was just amazing. He just he just could run and run every ball down in this massive shot she'd never seen before, this huge, huge topspin back end and forehand. And he made the final and all the way the finals a seventeen year old, was his first ATP to a final and lost to Dominique Barti. But that sort of you know, I think that introduced him to Auckland and New Zealand certainly. So it's kind of a sad day, but great memories of him.

He's had a long and illustrious career. How come he's lasted so long?

Yeah, and he's he's done it in a different ways in my feast, because he's just been plagued with injuries from basically the start, you know, like he I'm sure your listeners remember him winning Wimmedon against Roger Fedder in two thousand and eight, one of the great tennis matches, but a couple of years before he had massive issues with his feet, with his knees, with his shoulders, so he's been carrying injuries his whole career, missed a lot of tournaments. But he's just he's the hardest trainer on tour. He absolutely loves the sport. He said, some great coaches, great family behind him. But the main thing of it, Raffle, that stands out to me is I've never seen a player with such a will to win and such an ability to play under pressure, even better than Feeder and Jokovic. Like I've seen him so many times. You were seeing it too, Dars. He's down love forty in the shit. If he gets broken, he might lose the set or something, and he finds a way back, finds a way back from crazy situations.

So he was just he was just so hard to.

Beat mentally, just he just really was. And that's sort of the special thing I remember about him, as well as as well as his amazing shot making and everything else about him.

I love the way he's bowed out, not the fact that he'd been knocked out in a Davis Cup, the bar, the fact that he said I don't need to tell the world.

I don't have an ego. I'm just gonna speak.

He's just going to go and sit around on an easy chair somewhere and shell out.

We might not heave again. That's the kind of way he rolls.

Yeah, I mean it was. It's quite surprising in a way in one way, because he'd be justified to him a farewell to it, and he would people love him all around the world so much like I think he's he's second only to feed or might be equal Federer in terms of the love that he inspires. So he would sell out stadiums everywhere. They'd love to see him. He'd probably enjoy it in a way. But on the other hand, I'm not surprised to us.

Because, as you say, he's you know, for the fact he's a.

Sporting megastar around the world, he's still a pretty genuine guy. He's very family orientated, and you're right, he probably just wants to sit around in New yorka play golf, go fishing, help out the family business. I'm sure I'll have some other things on with his academies and as everything else. But it is kind of it's so authentic it's so rapid to finish.

To finish in this way rather than saying, Oh, I'm going to play every Grandstad one last time and I'm going to play my favorite time of it's really it's really kind of nice class act.

And on that, mister Burchess to thank you very much for your time and expertise as per look forward to catching up again in the office when I see you next.

Thanks for your time.

Yeah, certainly, certainly will die For more from Sports Talk, listen live to news Talks it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio

Sportstalk with D'Arcy Waldegrave

D'Arcy Waldegrave lives and breathes sport. He loves motorsport and revels in the torment of being a 
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