Rafael Nadal continues to be recognised for his phenomenal tennis feats, despite retiring from the sport last year.
Nadal, who called time on his career in November, has just received the Laureus Sporting Icon Award in Madrid.
Carlos Alcaraz received encouragement from Nadal after his Barcelona Open final loss, where he suffered defeat to Holger Rune.
Alcaraz now turns his focus to the Madrid Open, a competition Nadal won five times during his time on the court.
Nadal will be honoured by the French Open this year, having won a record 14 titles at Roland Garros, representing over half of his 22 Grand Slam titles.
Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty ImagesRafael Nadal doesn’t miss tennis after retiring in November
But as confirmed by the veteran after receiving his latest award, playing tennis is certainly not on his mind at this moment in time.
“I don’t miss it, honestly – I miss it zero,” said Nadal. “Not because I ended tired or had a bad relationship with tennis – far from it.
“I finished happy, and if I could, I’d still be playing. Tennis made me happy all my life. When you realise you can’t, you try to close the chapter, and I’ve done that.
“It took me a while because I needed time to be sure that the decision I was making was the right one. What I would’ve hated is to be sitting on the couch at home thinking I could still be out there playing.
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“When I saw that my body wasn’t going to recover to the level I needed to keep enjoying it the way I need to, I made the decision to stop.
“I don’t miss it because I ended with the peace of knowing my body couldn’t give more. I still follow tennis – not obsessively – but I watch the matches that interest me and follow the results because I’m passionate about sport.”
Rafael Nadal responds when asked if he could become a Davis Cup captain
Talk has somewhat unsurprisingly quickly turned to what will come next for the 38-year-old after retirement, particularly in tennis terms.
He has witnessed the likes of former rival Andy Murray not only turn to coaching, but coaching another old rival in Novak Djokovic.
For the Spaniard, however, questions of becoming a Davis Cup captain have arisen, with Nadal having bowed out from tennis in that competition.
Discussing the idea of becoming a captain at the team tournament, he said: “I don’t know, that can’t be predicted.
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Rafael Nadal Grand Slam record
“I’m passionate about sport, but you have to carve out your path. I’ve just finished a long journey, and I need to prepare for what’s next.
“I’ve had a family and a team that helped prepare me for what I loved for the future, and I don’t know what might happen with things like this.
“Obviously, I could be a candidate to be captain, but certain circumstances would need to align, and right now they don’t. I’m not saying no, not at all – but I’m always looking a few years ahead.”