Rafael Nadal staved off a persistent Dominic Thiem to claim a record 12th French Open title in Paris on Sunday evening. The undisputed King of Clay defeated world No. 4 Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 for his second title of 2019.
On Sunday, world No. 2 Rafael Nadal showed again why he’s the greatest of all time on the terre battue. The Spaniard, who has long held the record for most titles at a single grand slam event, broke his old record of 11 with a win over Dominic Thiem. Thiem, who has been the second-best clay courter in the world for a couple years running was a worthy opponent. Though the scoreline shows a pair of “breadstick” sets to close out the match, the first and second sets were both highly competitive. But for some signature clutch play by Nadal, this could have been a much longer match.
The first set in particular was punctuated by hard hitting, heavy grunting and fast sprinting. Thiem actually drew first blood as he broke Nadal for a 3-2 lead, but a bit of fatigue and perhaps a few nerves led to a sloppy service game, and Thiem handed it right back to the Spaniard for 3-3. The service break seemed to jolt Nadal into a more aggressive game. For the rest of the set, he inched closer to the baseline and crowded Thiem right out of the first set.
Thiem stepped up his game and Nadal grew a bit more passive on the return in the second set. Both men held serve relatively easily until Nadal was serving at 5-6 to force a tiebreaker. A combination of more aggressive play from the Austrian, and a inexplicably tight Nadal led to Thiem’s first set win over Nadal at Roland Garros. Unfortunately for Thiem’s camp, that would be the extent of his success in the match.
The world No. 4 lost his way completely in set three. He just barely staved off eating a third set bagel (losing to love) by scraping out a service hold at 4-0, but Nadal would not be denied. The 18-time major champion pummeled him both from the baseline and the net to pocket a 2 sets to 1 lead. It is a testament to Thiem’s determination that he continued to look for ways to dig out of the hole in which he found himself. With Nadal up 3-0 in the fourth set, the Austrian found himself in a 0-40 hole, and he actually managed to battle his way to a hold. It was nowhere near close to enough to get him back in the match, but the effort was noted and appreciated by the crowd.
A physically and mentally depleted Thiem simply didn’t have enough to stick with the King of Clay. On match point, Thiem sent the ball sailing past the baseline. Nadal dropped to the clay in triumph, the delight on his face as fresh as it was when he was 19 years old and won there for the first time. He was in tears as he accepted the crowd’s accolades, which wouldn’t be notable if they hadn’t given them so grudgingly for his first 8 or 9 titles. Even the French crowd, who long expressed disdain for the Spaniard’s workmanlike demeanor on court, has given in to the inevitable. He is their champion, for better or worse.
At the awards ceremony, Nadal’s first words were for his clearly disappointed opponent. “First thing I want to say is congrats to Dominic. I feel sorry because he deserves it here, too. He has an unbelievable intensity.”
And, indeed, Thiem fought all the way through to the bitter end. When it was clear that Nadal would be the one lifting the Coupe de Mousquetaires, when he realized he was simply too tired, and Nadal simply too good–he continued to fight. It’s likely that Thiem will be a fixture in the business end of Roland Garros for years to come. Meanwhile, Nadal continues his stranglehold on the premier event of the clay season.
Both men will now make the sometimes bumpy transition surfaces as the tour moves to the brief grass-court season.
[polldaddy poll=10339237]
I’m just so happy for Rafa! After all the difficult times, he has proven that he’s still so good, good enough to win the FO for the 12th time. Both he and us his fans had doubts about him and his performance this clay season after a poor start, but once he won the Rome title beating none other than world no.1 Djoko there, I think most of us knew that he’s back!
I read that Toni Nadal told him to just concentrate on winning at Rome and then at RG, and true enough, Rafa did just that once his game, his motivation and his confidence were back.
His win at Rome really gave me the belief that he would win the FO again; after seeing his SF performance against Fed, I knew he would beat Thiem or Djoko in the final, because Rafa simply has/had the court craft to handle anyone on the PC court. Fed wasn’t an easy opponent, but Rafa handled him well no less, that gave me the confidence he would win the final too.
I’ve to thank Fed for getting to the SF to play against Rafa; Rafa did gain lots of confidence after that SF win. Maybe, Fed made Rafa upped his level, so much so that Rafa knew then that he himself could play at that high level throughout a match, in tough conditions, and so he’s relatively more calm and composed in the final (as compared to his other finals played).
Kudo to Thiem, for being such a tough competitor especially in the SF against Djoko, he has proven he’s the real deal on the clay surface, and a force to be reckoned with going forward. Imo, it’s a matter of time that he will win the FO, and not only once, maybe twice or even more than that!
Rafa not playing anything before wimby..no tune ups..I am really greedy for a fab showing at wimby 🙂
Lucky…rafa is 1300 points odd ahead of fed. Will that secure the no 2 seed for rafa ? Asking as grass takes different formula into account
sanju, I don’t think Federer or Djokovic would want to meet Rafa in the SF any more than he would want to meet them.
Sanju, Fed is not playing at Stuttgart so he’ll drop 250 points, that means he will have 6420 points after Stuttgart tournament. Wimbledon ranking points work by adding 100% of last year’s Wimbledon points (360 for Fed for reaching the QF) plus the best grass event point if I’m not wrong (ie 300 points from Halle as he made the final) plus 3/4 of the points at Wimbledon in the year before last year, so for Fed it should be 1500 points (3/4 of 2000 as Fed was the winner in 2017).
Assuming Fed plays and wins at Halle this year, he’ll have 6620 actual ranking points. So, adding in Wimbledon ranking points of 360+300+1500, he should be having 8780 Wimbledon ranking points max.
Rafa has 7945 ranking points, add in Wimbledon ranking points of 720 (Sf from last year) and 135 (3/4 of 180 from 2017), Rafa will have 8,800 Wimbledon ranking points, still slightly ahead of Fed I believe.
No lucky he will be third as per formula in this link..damn
https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.sportskeeda.com/amp/tennis/wimbledon-seedings-system-explained
It is full grass points of last year n 75 percent of best tourney grass of 2017
Damn…
Alright, so we have to add in 250 points from Stuggart of last year, that means Fed must make the final at Halle this year to be ahead of Rafa by 30 points, anything less Rafa will be no.2 seed.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter whether Rafa is no.2 or no.3 seed, as to win Wimbledon again it is most likely that he has to beat either of them or both. It won’t be easy winning at Wimbledon.
250 of stuttgart n 300 of halle both last year..so rafa will be 3 seed unless roger crashes out first round of halle
Beating one is better than beating both.
No, I’ve already added in the 300 points of Halle last year, it’s only the Stuttgart points that I missed out. If Fed loses before the final at Halle this year, ie reaching only the SF, his ranking points will then be 6300 (6420-300+180), add in Wimbledon points of 360+300+250+1500 = 8710, so Rafa is still ahead at 8,800. So, Fed has to make the final of Halle at least to be ahead of Rafa in the seeding.
I agree with Luckystar that it doesn’t matter if Rafa is seeded 2 or 3. I don’t think either Fed or Djoker is a big threat to Rafa if he’s fit on any surface atm. None of them is guaranteed to make it. Djokovic is losing more and more before the business end of tournaments these days so it depends on the draw. Whichever one meets Rafa in the SF, should they all make it, will also be at a disadvantage.
Wimbledon ought to abandon their formula and just go with the ATP rankings.
https://mobile.twitter.com/VijayKedia1/status/1137988427071156224/photo/1
Hilarious 🙂
I was almost down and out before Roland Garros triumph, says Nadal
Date created : 09/06/2019 – 22:07
Paris (AFP)
Rafael Nadal admitted that his record 12th Roland Garros title was one of his most special after an injury-hit start to 2019 had left him “down mentally and physically” and questioning his love for the sport.
The 33-year-old swept to an 18th Grand Slam crown with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Austria’s Dominic Thiem in a repeat of the 2018 final.
Nadal is now just two behind Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 majors and three ahead of Novak Djokovic who was knocked out by Thiem in the semi-finals.
However, Nadal said that his troubled season leading up to the French Open had left him facing new fears about his ability to defend his title in Paris.
“I was not enjoying it too much, I was worried about my health. I was down mentally and physically after Indian Wells,” said Nadal.
“I was too negative. After Madrid and Barcelona, I was thinking about what I needed to do. I could stop for a while and recover or change my attitude and recover.”
After a loss in the Australian Open final to Djokovic where he won just eight games, a second round exit in Acapulco was followed by a withdrawal from the semi-finals in Indian Wells, when a knee injury meant that an eagerly-awaited clash with Federer was shelved.
His return in the clay court season saw semi-finals losses in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid before a much needed title triumph in Rome.
“This is a very satisfying victory. In 2018, I only played nine events and finished just seven of them,” he added.
“I had issues with my knee and surgery on my foot, so many issues in the last 18 months that have made the last few weeks very special.”
Nadal revealed that in Barcelona, he had locked himself away where he ended up questioning where his season was heading.
“Mentally, I lost a little bit of that energy, because I had too many issues in a row. It is tough when you receive one after another, and then sometimes you are groggy,” he explained.
“In Barcelona, I was able to stay alone for a couple of hours in the room and think about what’s going on, what I need to do.
“One possibility was to stop for a while and recover my body. And the other was change drastically my attitude and my mentality to play the next couple of weeks.
“Thinking a lot, finally I think I was able to change and was able to fight back for every small improvement that I was able to make that happen.”
World number two Nadal took his Paris record to an astonishing 93 wins and just two losses having previously won the title in 2005-2008, 2010-2014, 2017 and 2018.
It also gave him an 82nd career title and 950th match win.
“All the things that I went through probably give me that extra passion when I am playing, because I know I will not be here forever.
“So I just try to be positive, to be intense, and to be passionate about what I am doing.”
https://www.france24.com/en/20190609-i-was-almost-down-out-before-roland-garros-triumph-says-nadal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyObHdz9qLk
Rafa interviewed by Tennis Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4OCPMPV4Rg
Rafa’s post-match interview
Moya too sang praises about Rafa and his mental toughness, how Rafa despite all the negative thoughts, still was able to push himself to go out there to train and to practise. It’s because of Rafa’s never give up attitude in life, that he’s able to overcome so many setbacks in his career and makes successful comebacks time after time.
Perhaps, its Toni Nadal who helped built up such a tough character in Rafa (have to thanks him for that!), right from the beginning when Rafa was just a child. As for Rafa’s intensity, the way he could raise and sustain his intensity when he needed it most, Toni couldn’t explain that, he said perhaps Rafa was born with such intensity, such intense character, to begin with.
Toni also deserves credit for training Rafa to play under adverse conditions; that’s why he is the best in windy or bad weather. When he beat Murray at the IW Final in 2009 in conditions similar to that in Paris in the SF, Murray said later that “Rafa played with the wind and I played against it”. In his autobiography, Rafa said he hurt his finger once and told Uncle Toni he couldn’t practice. Uncle said, you can practice because you’ve got other fingers.
I’m so glad to have enjoyed Rafa as a tennis player for 15 years. I don’t mind what he achieves from now on, I just hope he keeps on playing for as long as he can.
I too think that Rafa was born with that intensity and desire. Also with the kind of mental toughness that regards defeat as a challenge, an invitation to get up and try again. And again. And again. His uncle Miguel Angel Nadal, the soccer player, once told of Rafa as a little child, enjoying keepaway with his 6 foot plus uncles, something that would drive most kids to tears. “He liked figuring out strategies to get the ball.”
There’s something else too, maybe something Mallorcan in his character. Rafa expects life to present challenges, not to be easy. And, like his uncle, he doesn’t value “easy”. He values the effort, the work. And he said that this year especially he’s more satisfied by the work he did than by the trophy. He’s the total opposite of Nick Kyrgios.
Oh, Rafa is now no. 1 in the race!
And congrats to Khachanov and Foggy, they make it to the top ten, at no. 9 and no. 10 respectively. Well done esp for Foggy, into the top ten for the first time at the age of 32!
‘Bigger house, bigger TV, better garden?’: Nadal won’t target Federer Slam record
Date created : 10/06/2019 – 07:38
Rafael Nadal and his 12 Roland Garros trophies AFP
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Paris (AFP)
Rafael Nadal insists he is not obsessed with beating Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slams, claiming “you can’t be frustrated all the time because your neighbour has a bigger house than you or a bigger TV or better garden”.
Nadal swept to an historic 12th Roland Garros title with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Austria’s Dominic Thiem on Sunday.
That took him to 18 majors, just two behind Federer.
At 33, Nadal is the best part of five years younger than the Swiss veteran but with a career blighted by injuries, he refuses to target the all-time record.
“That’s not the way that I see the life,” said the Spaniard.
“It’s a motivation, yes, but it’s not my obsession.
It’s not what makes me get up every morning or go and train and play.”
Nadal’s caution is well-founded.
By his own estimates, his career-long battles against knee and wrist injuries have cost him “around 15 or even more Grand Slams”.
In the aftermath of his latest Roland Garros triumph, he admitted that after an injury-hit start to 2019, he felt “down mentally and physically” and questioned his love for the sport.
“I was not enjoying it too much, I was worried about my health. I was down mentally and physically after Indian Wells,” said Nadal.
“I was too negative. After Madrid and Barcelona, I was thinking about what I needed to do. I could stop for a while and recover or change my attitude and recover.”
After a loss in the Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic, where he won just eight games, a second round exit in Acapulco was followed by a withdrawal from the semi-finals in Indian Wells, when a knee injury meant that an eagerly-awaited clash with Federer was shelved.
His return in the clay court season saw semi-finals losses in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid before a much needed title triumph in Rome.
“In 2018, I played nine events and finished just seven of them,” Nadal added.
“I had issues with my knee and surgery on my foot, so many issues in the last 18 months that have made the last few weeks very special.”
Nadal revealed that in Barcelona, he had even locked himself away, questioning where his season was heading.
“Mentally, I lost a little bit of energy, because I had too many issues in a row. It is tough when you receive one after another, and then sometimes you are groggy,” he explained.
“In Barcelona, I was able to stay alone for a couple of hours in the room and think about what’s going on, what I need to do.
“One possibility was to stop for a while and recover my body. And the other was change drastically my attitude and my mentality to play the next couple of weeks.
“Thinking a lot, finally I think I was able to change and was able to fight back for every small improvement.”
On Sunday, Nadal took his Roland Garros record to an astonishing 93 wins and just two losses having previously won the title in 2005-2008, 2010-2014, 2017 and 2018.
It also gave him an 82nd career title and 950th match win.
“All the things that I went through probably give me that extra passion when I am playing, because I know I will not be here forever.
“So I just try to be positive, to be intense, and to be passionate about what I am doing.”
Next up for Nadal is his latest assault on Wimbledon, where he has twice been champion, in 2008 and 2010.
However, the All England Club has also been the site of some spectacular lows.
He lost four years in succession to players outside the top 100 — Lukas Rosol, Steve Darcis, Nick Kyrgios and Dustin Brown — from 2012-2015.
In 2017, he was knocked out in the last 16 by Gilles Muller, 15-13 in the final set.
Last year, he lost a marathon semi-final to Novak Djokovic by dropping the last set 10-8.
“I played a great event last year. I have been able to be very close to win another title there. As everybody knows, I love to play on grass,” said Nadal who added he will not play a warm-up event before Wimbledon.
https://www.france24.com/en/2019061…-garden-nadal-wont-target-federer-slam-record
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRjTnpkNKtc
Interview with J McEnroe
Goosebumps video
https://mobile.twitter.com/rolandgarros/status/1137946190794895362
Beautiful! Thanks Sanju!
Rafa wasn’t invincible on clay this year. Just in-Domi-table! 🙂
This is for ed. I think now I understand what was going on with Rafa. I started thinking like you, that Rafa would retire very soon. But after hearing his interviews, I see that he hit a low point after the knee injury at I/W. He said that he was in a bad way, at a low point. Too many injuries. So what we saw at MC and Barcelona was Rafa struggling with himself. He is incredibly honest about what he has gone through.
Now I think he will keep playing if his body holds up. He found Hays way back from the darkness and the disappointment. I don’t think it’s a question of being wrong about him retiring. I think it’s that we did not know exactly what he was going through. He had a kind of crisis. But he found a way back.
I am so glad he did! When he bent over and wept into his shirt after he won, that was all the emotion of fighting adversity to come back. I cannot say enough about him. He has always been able to triumph over injuries and disappointment. I do think he was born different. He has very special qualities that have made him such a great champion.
Vamps Rafa always and forever!
Agreed. For Rafa it’s not the size of the prize that matters – it’s the effort he put into his achievement. It was humongous this time. Rafa has the rare ability to inspire loyalty, love and trust and to return it. He also needs his passion for tennis. Without it he can’t do what he does. Then there’s his honesty both with himself and others. He sees things as they are and as they can be and then takes us along for the ride. It gets bumpy sometimes but he’s worth it.
Vamos Rafa!
Ramara,
You said it better than I did!
😁
Not at all! You inspire me.;
Congratulations to Nadal and all his fans.
For Rafa to have come from the depths of despair at the beginning of the clay season to lift his 12th RG title is nothing short of amazing. He reluctantly played MonteCarlo because he was so down in the dumps that he considered taking sometime off. This si an interview from the ATP website:
Nadal: ‘The Path Doesn’t End Here. There’s Still Work To Be Done’
Spaniard considered shutting down his season during the clay-court swing
Lifting a crown never becomes routine, not even if the player lifting the crown is Rafael Nadal and when it’s for the 12th time. Such is the situation in which the Spaniard finds himself after defeating Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 to win his 12th Roland Garros title and improve to 93-2 at the season’s second Grand Slam.
Nadal, now dressed in a white shirt and gray shorts just a few hours after lying on the clay of Court Philippe Chatrier in celebration, is ready to discuss how he got to this point, a point that just a few weeks ago was almost unthinkable. And that is precisely the starting point of this conversation.
Did you see yourself in this position a month and a half ago?
I did not.
How come?
If I made it to this point, it was because I believed that I could. If I didn’t think I could make it happen, I wouldn’t have followed through; I would have gone a different route.
You hit a bit of a roadblock a little while back.
It wasn’t a roadblock – there are times you just have to make certain decisions. I’ve suffered a lot of injuries throughout the past 18 months. If you’re referring to the knee injury, which has admittedly given me problems, you can add a bunch of other things that I’d consider setbacks that have affected my game. Too many setbacks, honestly. I’m always pushing forward but there’s a point where one hits rock bottom. Not being able to train or compete, it’s frustrating and it takes its toll on you.
What happened after Indian Wells in March, when you injured your right knee and couldn’t compete in the semi-finals against Roger Federer?
Mentally, after Indian Wells, I suffered a major downturn. Ideas and scenarios were swirling inside my head. I considered shutting down my season to see if my body would recuperate instead of playing through injury after injury. Another option was to press on and play through the pain. Either way, the outlook was bleak. It required a change of mindset this time, and that doesn’t happen overnight.
Your coach, Carlos Moya, recently said: “Since I’ve starting coaching Rafa, I’ve never seen him look so [downtrodden].”
I was reluctant and hesitant to return. Physically, because of another tendon tear in my knee, and on top of going through all the treatment required in the recovery process, there was dealing with the pain. That’s the reality of the matter — it was different this time. That’s not how it usually works with me.
Normally, the injury is diagnosed, I rehab, practise and go through the routine like it’s no big deal. I’d play through pain and wouldn’t even consider that as suffering. This time was different … considering my history of competing, of fighting. Normally, this process isn’t what I would consider “suffering”.
Can you explain?
Between the level of pain and just being sidelined, there came a time when I just felt tired of all of this. I was sick of always being in pain. I get it: with competing comes pain. But when you’ve accumulated injuries, decided to deal with them, recovered from them and before you even get back on the court you’ve acquired another, that takes a toll.
After Indian Wells, I took a moment to make sense of all of it. I felt a little more upbeat around the time of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, but I was still in a very low place and hardly positive.
Following a first-round win over Leonardo Mayer [6-7(7), 6-4, 6-2] in Barcelona, you stayed in your room with your team for quite some time to contemplate things and come to some sort of conclusion.
I promised myself that I would play through Roland Garros with the attitude and energy necessary to confront all obstacles in my way. I wanted to give myself the opportunity to compete at the highest level possible throughout this clay-court season. I spoke with my team and we thought things over.
I needed motivation and there are things you can do in the moment to get that sort of uplifting feeling. YouTube is good for that; there are lots of inspirational videos on there. But I also had to think long-term and summon my inner strength. I did a lot of reflecting, self-evaluating.
You’ve said in the past that when you lose the illusion, the dream, that will be the day you start the next chapter.
I wasn’t in that situation. In this scenario, I was weighing the option of taking some time off to recover. It’s not a case of losing the drive of playing tennis. I had just lost the strength to face down every problem that sprung up on a daily basis and to deal with the debilitating pain. I had to make a decision, but not that drastic of a decision (retirement).
So you weren’t considering retirement.
No, not at all. Just contemplated a break for time to recover.
Did you feel all alone at that time?
I never feel alone, no matter where I go. I have lifelong friends, people I consider friends since I was three years old. I have the same core team. And I have my family in Manacor (on the island of Mallorca, Spain). Village life is different from life in a big city. I communicate daily with my family. There’s always a time, though, that whatever I’m going through, I’m the only one who knows what it feels like and to live through it. Sometimes I need help from the people who know me well, from people who love me. In this sense, I have always been very well accompanied, accommodated and advised.
All things considered, no matter how big the wound has been, you’ve always found a way to close it.
When I win, I bask in the glory, and when I lose, it feels like everything has gone wrong with the world. Don’t get me wrong, through the good and bad, I’m always emotionally stable, and staying on level ground helps me accept the positive with the negative and handle my feelings.
It’s a matter of reflecting and assessing things as they happen, then evaluating why they happened. Win or lose, I strive to do even better. The basic principle stays the same, though: I respect the game, and I respect my opponent.
What are you most proud of these past few months?
Playing in Barcelona, in Madrid, in Rome, at Roland Garros … this is the most beautiful time of the year for me. I’m pleased to have stuck to the promise I made myself going into the season, to give it my all, to appreciate the little improvements and to just be thankful for the opportunity to compete day in and day out. From that time in Barcelona through now, I’ve steadily improved. The self-evaluation has paid off. I made lots of small but important steps along the way.
What are you most satisfied with?
I’ve done almost nothing wrong. I wasn’t playing out-of-this-world tennis, but I have come through at important moments. My backhand has been on target, and my forehand is operating at a very high level. Just the fact that I’ve been able to play five tournaments in a row without withdrawing once is satisfying.
I’ve never said it before, but going a stretch like that gives me confidence that my body can hold up under pressure. I can rely on my body to endure what I put it through, even if it’s something as simple as running down shots or twisting and turning, without the fear of something going wrong.
You’re always the favourite when you step onto the court at Roland Garros. Does that affect you?
What people think has no effect on how I play. I control how I play. Feelings and opinions don’t fit into the outcome. I see this time of the year as a chance to add to my success, and I feel I’ve done that this season.
Have you ever stopped valuing everything you have achieved?
I haven’t made that mistake and don’t intend on doing so. I value it all. In the past, I sometimes felt more excited about some wins more than others, but even that sensation isn’t one I’ve felt since 2015. It’s dangerous to think that way.
The feeling shared among your rivals is that your peerless on clay. Do you consider yourself your own biggest rival?
I haven’t been. Maybe I’ve failed myself a little when it came to maintaining that always positive attitude and with my level of play (following the most recent injury).
But when I play my best, I achieve the intended results and have done so throughout my career. I said it in Barcelona this year: All I needed to do was to get well. They asked me if I had to win in Rome to win at Roland Garros (Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 to lift his ninth Rome title in May). My response was “No, all I need to do is feel well to play well.”
You’re recovered and in top condition. Is anything possible once again?
I’ve never seen myself as capable of anything. I’m happy with what I’ve achieved so far, it’s all special. But the path doesn’t end here; this isn’t the end of the road. There’s still work to be done. I’m going to have to adjust my schedule a little bit, but that’s a matter I’ll discuss with my team. I want to be able to play my best in every tournament I enter and that’s the approach we’ll take moving forward following Wimbledon.
As you’ve said, you’ve strung together five consecutive tournaments without injury. With the grass season already here and the hard-court stretch not too far out, how concerned are you about another possible setback?
The option is always there to take some time off like I considered some months back. After all I’ve been through, acquiring an injury isn’t something that goes through my mind when I’m on the court. I’m an optimistic person, so all I can say is that I’m going to play and I’m thinking about playing at a high level.
It’s true that clay is a little less hard on the body, but I can’t dwell on that and also aspire to be successful going into the grass- and hard-court seasons. We’ll play with an adjusted calendar to give me the best possible chance to succeed.
Are you eager ahead of Wimbledon?
Realistically, I’ve had my chances at Wimbledon when I’ve been fit and playing well. I played five finals in a row there (2006-08, 10-11; DNP in 2009). I was on the cusp of reaching the final last year (l. to Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 7-6[9], 3-6, 10-8). Winning at Roland Garros has definitely given me a boost in confidence going into Wimbledon. If I’m fit and I can prepare sufficiently, well, we’ll see what happens.
https://www.atptour.com/en/news/nadal-r … title-2019
Excellent interview. Thanks for posting it here, Nadline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBW6ZFs4dgI