Broken_Shoelace said:
If he's healthy, the number 1 ranking will remain an indirect objective. In other words, as long as he's healthy, he'll play the tournaments he wants to play, which realistically, he's in contention to win in each of them. If the results are coming, the ranking takes care of themselves. But I see this as more of a "take it every tournament at a time" approach for Nadal because he's unsure about his health, in addition to the fact that mentally, he doesn't feel there's a big point in making the ranking a priority. He's no longer 24 and has plenty of mileage. I think claiming "he's throwing the towel" is a bit of a stretch.
Of course, if Rafa plays and wins many tournaments he will become #1 whether or not it
is his goal.
However, this notion of "taking tournament at a time" is just a politically correct stuff. All of us know that even if somebody wants to become #1, they are not going to become one without winning
some tournaments and going deep in others (especially the big ones).
By extension of the same argument, one can say that "I am not setting winning the
tournament" as an objective and if I win each match, then tournament will take care of
itself (in fact this is often the standard statement made by many players in many interviews
- taking a match at a time). Then, one can say, I am just focusing on winning a set and
if I win three sets the match will take care of itself. Then one can say, I am just focusing
on winning the next game. If I win enough games, the set will take care of itself.
Finally, one can say, "I just want to win the next point" or just send the ball over to
the other side.
Of course, all of these are indeed needed. The point is that goals are always set at
a higher level although one cannot achieve them without achieving the lower level stuff.
As the interview was not in English, I don't know the exact context in which he
made the statement. If he was poked by the interviewer, than I would say his statement
is not worth deeper analysis (it would be much like every player saying I am focusing
on the next match and not looking at the draw). On the other hand, if Rafa voluntarily
said #1 is not a goal, then it attains greater significance. I believe the later is the
case, as he is not just referring to 2015 and he is referring to attaining #1 during the
rest of his career.
