Spaniard Rafael Nadal finished the competition in the round of 16 at the US Open, although much more was expected from the Spaniard at the last Grand Slam.
“Bull from Majorca” after almost three hours of play was defeated by the American Frances Tiafoe, with a score of 6:4, 4:6, 6:4, 6:3.
After the match, Nadal was honest and admitted that it was not an injury, but that Tiafoe was better than him.
” No, I didn’t go to the locker room because of a medical time-out. It was just going to the bathroom. I also put on some moisture bandages, to stop my palms from getting wet. That’s all,” Nadal began.
” Yes, it was very humid. However, it is nothing new. This year it has been very humid since the first day,” says Rafa.
” The answer is easy, I played a bad match, and he played a good match, right? I was not able to maintain a high level of my tennis for a long time. I wasn’t fast in my movements, he managed to catch the ball very early, I didn’t manage to push him further. Tennis is a positional sport, isn’t it? If not, then you have to be very fast and very young. I’m not that anymore. My shots have to be better. My understanding of the game and the quality of my shots were not good enough, they were weak today, because I didn’t manage to create much. Kudos to him, he was better than me,” admitted Rafa Nadal.
He is aware that he did not prepare well for the US Open.
” We can lament, but that will not change my situation. We can think what would have happened if I hadn’t hurt myself. I might take Wimbledon. Maybe some other things in the past. Or maybe I would lose some others because I wasn’t able to create that inner power after all those injuries? It’s part of my career. Many times it went well, sometimes unexpectedly like in Australia, at Roland Garros. Of course, I didn’t have ideal preparations.”
-” Nevertheless, in other situations it went as it should, even though there were not good preparations even then. We can’t make excuses. We have to be self-critical enough. It is the only way to progress and the only way to understand that I am able to find solutions. I trained well a week before the tournament. When the competition started, my level dropped. It’s true. For some reason, perhaps of a mental nature, because a lot has happened in the past months. It doesn’t even matter. In the end I played in the round of 16 and faced a player who was better than me. That’s why now I’m going to get on the plane and return home.” – concluded Rafael Nadal.
