Rafael Nadal plays down his golfing skills, says he's "not even close to a good golfer"
Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest tennis player of all time, if not the greatest. The Spaniard recently won the French Open for a record-equaling 20th Grand Slam, and looks set to claim the record all on his own over the next couple of years.
Tennis is not the only thing that Nadal is good at though; he has many other talents, the most notable of which is golf. The 34-year-old has taken part in several amateur golf competitions in the past, and last month he even participated in the Balearic Golf Championships in Mallorca.
However, Rafael Nadal has no ambitions of forging a full-time career on the golf circuit. In a recent interview with ATP, the Spaniard revealed that while he loved playing golf, he was nowhere close to being at the same level as regular professionals.
"I like to play golf and I have been normally (playing) in amateur competitions which is of course great. There was the professional Balearic tournament. It was three rounds. I had fun playing... focused for those days," Nadal said.
The Balearic tournament featured 60 players - which included a mix of professionals and amateurs. Nadal ended the three-day tournament in joint-sixth, with a score of nine over par after 54 holes.
But during the video interview, Rafael Nadal shot down the expectations of those who assume he will be proficient at 'everything' just because he is a successful tennis player. The 34-year-old added that he is unlikely to ever become a 'good' golfer.
"People think when you are good at one thing, you can be good in everything. I think I can reach a level of competitiveness to enjoy and to compete at a local level but that's it. I can't become, not even close to, a good golfer," Nadal went on.
Rafael Nadal aiming to win his first ever Paris Masters title
Rafael Nadal is the top seed at the ATP Paris Masters this week. After a first round bye, he will meet fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the second round of the tournament on Wednesday.
If he wins the match, it will be the 1000th ATP match win of the 34-year-old's glittering career.
Rafael Nadal has never won the ATP Paris Masters, but will be hoping to end that drought this week. With the absence of several big names from the draw - including World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, World No. 3 Dominic Thiem and World No. 4 Roger Federer (who has not played since January due to a knee injury), the Spaniard is the favorite to win the title in Paris this week.