MADRID, 25 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal did not want to be too optimistic about his clear victory this Thursday against the American Darwin Branch in his debut at the Mutua Madrid Open because he had “many facilities” that he will not find on Saturday against the Australian Alex de Miñaur , although he insisted that for him being in the Caja Mágica “means a lot” because “three weeks ago” he didn’t know if he would be able to play a game.
“I’m not very results-driven, I’ve never been, I’m realistic about what happens and you have to be honest. My rival has good potential, but he has made a lot of mistakes and has given me a lot of facilities, with the utmost respect,” he said. Nadal at a press conference.
The Spaniard stressed that the duel had “lasted an hour” and that the victory did not change his “perspective” about going to Roland Garros. “And it’s not going to change me here, after Rome I will make the decision and if I arrive, I arrive, I am not going to play without the feeling that I can compete and I am not referring to winning, it is that I can give my maximum, it is normal that With everything I have won in Paris, I don’t want to feel like that on that track,” he stressed.
The winner of 22 ‘Grand Slams’ reiterated that in his case what is most difficult for him is going out on a court at his best. “Today I have to be a little careful and that on a mental level for someone like me is difficult. I have experience, I have accepted the moment I am in and I work with it daily, trying to give a little more every day and exploring what else I can give. For me, being here means a lot, three weeks ago I didn’t know if I would be able to play an official match and it is great news,” he said.
Nadal does not hide that “things can happen when playing at home”, but he sees it as difficult to beat Alex de Miñaur on Saturday. “Yes, it would surprise me, but it’s not something that worries me much either, the only thing that changes me on an emotional level is playing another day in Madrid, on a sporting level, winning or losing does nothing for me,” he said.
“Saturday is another opportunity to test myself in tennis against a great rival who makes things difficult for me and gives very little away, which at the moment I am in becomes more difficult. In Barcelona I played a set in which I was good, but “To win, you need time and physical effort in most points,” added Nadal.
The man from Manacor made it clear that “in no case” will he leave the tournament “one hundred percent happy.” “If I leave without hurting myself and with the feeling that I have been able to play and compete again without anything happening, I will be able to say that it has been another approved week. Then it will be time to take another step, I don’t know if it will be today or in two days, but it is important to give myself the option to see how I can adapt to the competition. I have played very little during the last year and a half and I need time for everything,” he stressed.
“I would like what is happening these weeks to have been in Brisbane, the Australian Open or Doha and to be in a different situation today, but it couldn’t have been any other way and what I have to try is to prevent what happened in Brisbane. I healed quickly, but when you stop your body you start from scratch again and then things happen with a physique like mine and they have not allowed me to have an evolution. In Brisbane, I looked better than I really was, I forced and It was a mistake. At that moment I looked better prepared than today, it didn’t make me think about anything that happened,” he warned.
Finally, Nadal stressed that he has “better and worse days” and that on Saturday against De Miñaur he will go out to “try to enjoy and compete”, without ruling out “anything”, even if he is not “the favorite”, while he recognizes that he has had to make an effort “a lot to extend” his career and that he has “always” maintained “the passion and spirit to continue playing and competing.”