Australian Open: The balls, fatigue, the night … Nadal wins, but does not finish convincing

The Balearic aims at the wear of the ATP Cup and the different conditions after playing their first game on the Australian night

• Chronicle
  

  Nadal ends with a Delbonis fighter and waits for Carreo in the third round
  

• Nadal
  

  The tender kiss to a ball boy: “He has been one of my worst scares on a track”
  

The balls I feel them very heavy. When we play with new balls, it is true that they are fast, but after six or seven strokes they become very heavy and I am unable to harm the opponent. The track may also be somewhat slower than usual and that influences the ball.

The night. It was my first night game and the conditions are different.

Fatigue. I have arrived a little tired. This beginning has been long, a little different from what we are used to, with the ATP Cup. I started without looking for great things. Do not make mistakes, play simple.

Rafael Nadal is in the third round of the Australian Open, where he will face Pablo Carreo on Saturday, which he has won in his four previous crossings, leaving only one set on the road. Nadal beat Federico Delbonis on Thursday 6-3, 7-6 (4) and 6-1, but, just like he did in the debut against Hugo Dellien, who was also super in three straight sets, he didn't find his best tone . After defeating the Bolivian, he already referred to the uniqueness of the balls. Yesterday, in the quotation marks that opens this article, I did it again.

Dunlop relieved Wilson in 2019, with a five-year contract with the Australian Open. Already then, when a new Japanese model of this brand was introduced, there was controversy regarding the balls. Without a doubt, they have a different touch in relation to what we have played in the last two years, Federer said. It is hard for the players out-spin (those who play flatter, like the Swiss). I think it is important to have tracks fast enough for the conditions of the night session. If they stay slow, the ball does not move.

Yes, the ball is a little slower, right? It doesn't have the tall boats that just have here. But the ball is what it is. It is fair and quality. I can't complain, commented Nadal then.

Little profitability to the rest

The left-hander could only transform three of the 20 possibilities of break that created against Delbonis, one of 18 in the first two sets. It was his first game on the Australian night, as noted in the statements at the foot of the track that are collected in the second of the quotes. Ah converges with Federer, who has already pointed out in the current edition of the tournament that at times seems to be playing on clay. It is known that the style of both has little in common: the Swiss likes to hit flat, while Nadal has made a career thanks to his exceptional handling of lifted blows, top spin.

Last year, Nadal stood in the final against Novak Djokovic without competing since the 2018 US Open semifinals, where he retired for a new knee injury when he lost to Juan Martn del Potro. I lost in three sets against the Serbian, but I came to the final meeting with an impeccable performance. On this occasion, as a record in detail after beating Dellien (part of his statements are collected in the third of the quotes) comes from winning the Davis Cup, last November, in the Caja Mgica, and has opened the course with eight games in nine days at the newly released ATP Cup.

Nadal, champion of the tournament in 2009 and four times finalist, admits that he must make a qualitative leap. I think I will improve, that is also true. I'm doing things better, in training I feel good too. In the games it's like I'm not being able to let go of what I need, especially at the beginning.

Carreo, 30, will be the most complicated adversary in terms of competition, but, as is logical, if he keeps going, difficulties will be added. He will enter the second week with the winner of the match between Kyrgios and Khachanov. The Australian has never been a dish of taste for him.