Am Ostermontag durfte Rafael Nadal einen ausserordentlichen Preis in Empfang nehmen. Als erst zweiter Sportler erhielt der im letzten Sommer zurückgetretene Spanier den "Laureus Sporting Icon Award". Der "Icon Award" ist in der 25-jährigen Geschichte der Laureus-Stiftung zuvor erst an Valentino Rossi (Motorrad) vergeben worden.
"It means a lot; it’s an award that comes from the world of sport, not just my own. It’s something more, very special - just thinking that I was in front of so many people I’ve watched on TV since I was a kid or even today, and they were standing to recognize my career - it’s hard to describe what that feels like. Thank you to everyone and to the Academy for thinking I deserve this great award. The Laureus Awards have always been very special to me. This is probably the last of my career, but the meaning of this one is unique."
"I don’t miss tennis, honestly - I miss it zero. 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 realize 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. 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."
