Spanish tennis giant Rafael Nadal revealed that while the French Open title this year was a career milestone worth savoring, he was too emotionally overcome by what was unfolding across the world to celebrate his win.

A win minus celebration for Rafael Nadal

While there was little surprise in how French Open ended for Nadal this year, the optics around his win were different as he didn’t play to a full house and most of his fans cheered him on from afar because of the pandemic.

Opening up on the experience of winning his 13th French Open title in an interview, Nadal said that while it took him to a career landmark of 20 Grand Slam titles, tying him with Roger Federer, he didn’t celebrate it as lustily as he did his previous titles.

Nadal says it was tough not to have his loved ones around him

“It was obviously a very important moment for me, professionally, and let’s be honest, personally as well. 

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“It meant a lot for me to win again at Roland-Garros and reach the number of titles there that I did. But I also can’t deny the fact that in the end, the celebration wasn’t as cheerful as it was after my other victories,” Nadal said.

To most players, it wasn’t easy to focus on tennis and compete for titles at a time the virus was sweeping the world, killing thousands, and Nadal conceded as much.

Read More: WATCH: Rafael Nadal’s Top Shots of 2020

His homeland was among the countries worst hit by the pandemic, reporting record number of cases and fatalities.

A subdued French Open, says Rafa

“The tournament didn’t have the same, let’s say, intensity and joy that you get from an animated crowd. 

“You normally have the feeling of being surrounded by your loved ones, but the fact that we were isolated from everyone made it a more, I’d say, subdued tournament than normal,” Nadal said.

“It’s also a fact that it took place during a time which was full of so much bad news, over the last few months (preceding the French Open), which meant that I wasn’t able to enjoy such an important victory,” the Spaniard said.

The French Open was Nadal’s only title win this calendar as he failed to land the championship at the Paris Masters and the season-ending ATP Finals.

Even on clay, at the Italian Open in Rome, Nadal lost in the quarter-final to Argentine Diego Schwartzman.