"Better to say Rafael Nadal is passing anti-doping control today, result in 2 weeks"- When Spaniard called for his anti-doping records to be published
Rafael Nadal once spoke about how he told the ITF to publish his doping records and make them public, in a bid to prove the integrity of tennis.
The incident occurred during the Madrid Open in 2016, when Nadal spoke to reporters before his first match. The Spaniard was asked what propelled him to make his doping records public, and he responded that he believed in his sport and that his rivals were clean.
"Well, my philosophy is easy to understand, no? I believe in my sport. That's the most important thing. I believe that my rivals are clean. I believe the sport is clean and I believe in our anti-doping program, no, and it's an independent one," the Spaniard said.
The King of Clay also said that his results would be negative.
"The sport should be clean and must look clean, no? Should be, in my opinion - always in my opinion - much better for the transparency of the sport in general to say, you know, Rafa Nadal is passing an anti-doping control today and the result going to be in two weeks. In the result, you publish the results. The anti-doping control is negative. That's it," Nadal said.
Nadal ended the 2016 season with 39 wins out of 53 matches. He won two titles that year, at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open.
Rafael Nadal has won eight Grand Slams since 2017
Rafael Nadal's 2016 season ended after the Shanghai Masters, and he returned to the court in earlier 2017.
The Spaniard won both the French Open and the US Open in 2017. He went on to capture the French Open again in 2018, before successfully defending his title in 2019, beating Dominic Thiem in both finals. Nadal also won the US Open in the latter year, triumphing over Daniil Medvedev in the final.
The Spaniard won his 13th French Open crown in 2020, triumphing over Novak Djokovic in the final. After failing to win a single Major in 2021, the King of Clay won two in 2022, defeating Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud in the final.