‘An important part of my life is leaving too,’ says emotional Rafael Nadal. Photograph: Marcelo Bertier/Reuters
The moment Rene Rodríguez stepped before his family members and friends at Medellín’s La Merced hospital, he had no choice but to look up.
As the Colombian tennis star was about to take the court on Sunday afternoon after taking time out to meet his injured brother, he could feel the pressure mounting.
His father Rafael was waiting for him wearing a white jacket and looking like he was ready to fight a war.
Rene could hear the roar of the crowd behind him and on the ground, and he knew the players were all waiting for him to start.
Then, after a moment, he saw his father on the sidelines, his eyes filled with tears. Rafael had been crying his eyes out.
The two were left with no choice but to walk towards each other and hug. The emotion had been too much for Rafael. His left leg had been shattered by a volley from Novak Djokovic, at least 10 years ago.
“It’s been an important part of my life that I left my family and friends to come to South America and face my fate,” Rene said after he had received treatment in the Colombian capital, from medics.
“I have to thank God for giving me the strength to keep fighting and my family, which has been so strong for me over the years, to look out for me.
“I will never forget what he’s done for my life.”
His father, who has won seven grand slams and is the Colombian tennis legend of the year, was a key member of the Colombian team that was defeated in the first round of the French Open by Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro in 2009.
Rene is the first player to visit his father in his hospital, in the same hospital where, in June, they had seen each other in the same bed and hugged.
“It will be difficult for me to imagine that he is in this room and not in a hospital bed in Colombia,” Rafael said.
“And I will never forget the experience of being in this room with him in this moment.
“If he was alive, he would have been here to see me in this moment. But I will always remember that he was in this room with me.”
Rafael said his
