Carreno Busta: 'I didn't know if it would be possible to continue'

pTwo years ago when a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pablo-carreno-busta/cd85/overview'Pablo Carreno Busta/a watched the draw for the Omnium Banque National preacute;senteacute; par Rogers, he was in disbelief. The Spaniard, then No. 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings, had drawn a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/matteo-berrettini/bk40/overview'Matteo Berrettini/a, who earlier that year had reached World No. 6, in the first round./p

pldquo;I wrote to my friends on WhatsApp and I said, 'Come on, this is crazy, the Masters 1000s. I am 23rd in the world and I play in the first round against Berrettinirsquo;,rdquo; Carreno Busta told ATPTour.com. ldquo;Come on, in the first round? I'm 23rd in the world and I have to play against Matteo?rdquo;/p

pThat week proved to be the best of Carreno Bustarsquo;s career. The mild-mannered Gijon-native not only defeated Berrettini, but went on to claim his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy, making memories for a lifetime in Montreal./p

pWhen Carreno Busta returned to Jarry Park a few days ago for the first time since that glorious week, his mindset was nowhere near the same. The 33-year-old has not played for most of the past year and a half due to elbow tendonitis./p

pldquo;It's very special, of course, because I won two years ago here in Montreal, my first ATP Masters 1000. But also it's very special because the last year and a half, I was out of the Tour because of an injury,rdquo; Carreno Busta said. ldquo;To be here again is very important to me. To be on the Tour again after this long time, I didn't know if would be possible to continue playing tennis or not.rdquo;/p

pimg src="/-/media/images/news/2022/08/14/04/45/carreno-busta-montreal-2022-sf-2.jpeg?w=100%25amp;hash=26D2C2FFA7861E002AF82C054DDB645D" style="width:100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pablo-carreno-busta/cd85/overview'Pablo Carreno Busta/a" /br /

emsupCarreno Busta triumphed in Montreal in 2022. Photo: Mike Lawrence/ATP Tourbr /

/sup/emNow Carreno Busta is confident he can push forward, but that was not always the case./p

pldquo;Sometimes I just feel the pain when I play tennis. But there were other moments that I felt the pain all the time when I was sleeping, when I was trying to swim on the beach,rdquo; Carreno Busta said. ldquo;It was crazy because it's very uncomfortable all the time thinking if there is going to be pain or not.rdquo;/p

pThere were moments when the Spaniard, who reached a career-high World No. 10, wondered if he would need to retire./p

pldquo;Sometimes I thought about it. I didn't want to do it. But when you stop for one and a half years, it's normal that you think a lot of things,rdquo; Carreno Busta said. ldquo;I didn't know [how] my life [would] continue after retiring./p

pldquo;Look at Novak for example. He is 37 and continuing to play at this level. So I hope to be here on the Tour for the next few years.rdquo;/p

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pIn his worst moments, Carreno Busta tried his best to enjoy time with his family and friends, especially his wife. Their support helped him remain as positive as possible. /p

pLast October, Carreno Busta attempted to play two ATP Challenger Tour events after eight months away. But the pain was too difficult to deal with and he underwent an operation./p

pAs tough as it was to spend so much time away from the sport he loves, it provided him a new perspective./p

pldquo;I tried to work a lot to come back. I got treatments with the physios, with the doctors, I did a lot of fitness. I tried to play tennis. There were [tough] moments. But it's true that I had a lot of time,rdquo; Carreno Busta said. ldquo;In a year and a half I had a lot of time to enjoy with my family also, to do things that normally I couldn't do. For example, last summer, I went on holidays. Normally in summertime, I'm here in the U.S. or in Canada playing these tournaments. So it was different. But I think that in this moment I prefer to be here playing tennis.rdquo;/p

pCarreno Busta played his first tournament of the year at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/roland-garros/520/overview'Roland Garros/a, where he lost in the first round. After competing in three more events mdash; two on clay and one on grass mdash; the Spaniard was hurt again and unable to take the court at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a./p

pBut now he is excited to be in Montreal, where two years ago he created one of the happiest moments of his career. He defeated Berrettini, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/holger-rune/r0dg/overview'Holger Rune/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jack-draper/d0co/overview'Jack Draper/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/daniel-evans/e687/overview'Daniel Evans/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/hubert-hurkacz/hb71/overview'Hubert Hurkacz/a to earn the biggest title of his career./p

pldquo;It was probably the best week of my life, winning a Masters 1000,rdquo; Carreno Busta said./p

pldquo;I would like just to enjoy these moments, get the extra confidence to be here and try to make a good week. I know that probably my level is not the same level of two years ago. But for me, it's very important to be here. I know I'm not 100 per cent again in this moment, but we'll see what happens. I think the most important thing is that I'm healthy, continue to be healthy and don't get injured again.rdquo;/p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p