Rafael Nadal says he feared 'choking on my own saliva' during challenging 2015 season

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Julien de Rosa / AFP via Getty Images Share articleRafael Nadal went through a yearlong period in 2015 when he dealt with anxiety and control issues so consuming, he said, that he had to go for walks with a water bottle for fear of choking on his own saliva. The 22-time Grand Slam champion talked about seeking treatment from a psychiatrist in an interview with Spanish outlet Marca, ahead of the Madrid premiere of his Netflix documentary series, “Rafa.” “At a certain point, it’s one thing to not be able to control my emotions or the situation on the tennis court, and another to have to go for walks with a water bottle when I’m off the court because otherwise I choke on my own saliva,” Nadal, 39, said in Spanish. “So I said, well, I have a problem, I need to see a professional. I visited a psychologist, and she explained things I already knew. She was completely rational.” Nadal’s blunt honesty mirrors the candid — and at times intense — tone of the documentary, which is released May 29. The four-episode series details the extreme physical suffering Nadal endured during his career, stemming from the chronic foot issue that came to partially define his legacy. The Spaniard also discussed the lesser-known mental and emotional turmoil he experienced while he was dominating on the tennis court. Nadal told Marca he was well aware how revealing the documentary was going to be during filming. “I was aware of that, because otherwise, what’s the point? If you’re going to tell a story that isn’t true, my story has already been told,” Nadal said. “Creating a story about success, about what my career has been like, I don’t think it would make sense.” Nadal detailed his approach to managing the mental side of the sport in an essay immediately following his retirement in 2024. “I went through a very difficult moment, mentally, a few years ago,” he wrote in The Players’ Tribune. “Physical pain I was very used to, but there were times on the court when I had trouble controlling my breathing, and I couldn’t play at the highest level. I don’t have trouble saying it now.” He is the latest tennis star to turn their career — or part of it — into a documentary, as the sport’s most famous players become increasingly invested in being masters of their own media. Nadal follows the likes of Naomi Osaka, Carlos Alcaraz, Roger Federer and Serena Williams in documenting his career and its end, but he is not listed as a producer on the series. The release also comes in the shadow of Netflix’s “Break Point,” which followed active tennis players in the behind-the-scenes manner made popular on the platform by the F1 series “Drive to Survive,” but did not achieve the same success and lasted only two seasons, the last of which aired in 2024. “Why should we work with them when we can just make our own movie?” One top player’s agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, said during an interview in 2023. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms