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Nadal hoping for clay turnaround after Madrid semi exit
MADRID, May 12, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Rafael Nadal heads into the final
fortnight of the countdown to the French Open facing uncertainty after
crashing out in his bid for a sixth title at the Madrid Open.
Spain’s formerly invincible king of clay – who in most years would have at
least one dirt title to hand upon arrival at Roland Garros – will have a last
chance in Rome to pick up a trophy.
His mission at the Foro Italico from Monday will be to try and rescue his
form prior to the start of the Grand Slam where he dreams of collecting a
record 12th title.
Nadal went down in the Madrid semi-finals to young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas
of Greece 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, with the ninth-ranked “El Greco” exposing some of
the emerging fault lines in the game of the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
“Not winning here means that I’m not going back to my hotel happy,” said
Nadal, who also made semi-finals in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
“But I think I still have tennis ahead of me.”
Nadal said his longer term focus was on Roland Garros, confident that an
improvement would see him contesting titles later in the season.
“In Paris, I have 11 titles. Each week that I play in this tournament is a
lot of memories, a lot of unforgettable memories,” he said.
“What I have to do is to be fit and to play properly and have a high
tennis level.
“If I manage to do that … I think I will still have a very good
opportunity to fight for titles for the rest of the year.”
After starting slowly on clay last month after another knee injury pause,
Nadal is hopeful of quick progress.
“I’ve done a few steps forward, maybe not enough, but I have improved some
things. We’ll see (for how long) I can (continue to) play at a high level –
and I think I will be able to continue.
“If I’m not able to do these things (play) properly, that is the end of
the situation, period.
“This is a sport and in a sport it’s a matter of winning and sometimes
losing and accepting both as naturally as possible.”
As in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal will be defending a title in Rome
after beating Alexander Zverev in the 2018 title showdown.
The second seed behind Novak Djokovic opens in the second round against
one of two Frenchmen, Richard Gasquet or Jeremy Chardy.
“I’ve played just three tournaments on clay this year,” Nadal said. “It’s
not much.
“I play when I want to play and I play where I want to play.
“I just play for my happiness and I play when I really want to play.
That’s all.”
BSS/AFP/ARS/1715 hrs