Nadal: “It has been a day to forget and I hope isolated”

Touched, but in no case sunk, Rafa Nadal appeared at a press conference after falling to Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters 1,000 on a bad day of his and in front of “a great tennis player”, as he describes the Russian.

The match: “It's easy to explain, if you play against a great player like him and you don't play well, you lose. I hadn't had any problems in training, but it's from those days that the serve was a disaster. I wasn't confident and I was too focused on serve well. I fought, but he deserved it. Losing service so many times is impossible to win, seven times. I'm happy for him, because he's a great guy. “

Painful defeat: “It's always sad to lose, but here, which is one of my favorite tournaments, it's worse. I can't complain about anything, I have to go to Barcelona and prepare better, for example, to be fine with the backhand.”

preparation: “It's not that it's the product of bad feelings from the previous days, but rather a series of bad circumstances. I hope it was an isolated game, because I think I'm close to playing at a high level. We have to analyze what happened and improve. . Analyze things before an important month with clear objectives. It has been a day to forget and I have done things wrong that I hope not to repeat “.

Keys: “I needed to serve normal, not even well, that suggested the whole game to me, because I was only thinking about serving well and not playing. The serve has worked fatally, I'm going to work on it and I don't think I'll be able to solve it. heavier than usual. With the backhand I did not open the court well towards the crusader and he was waiting for me in the parallel. In the comeback section I have done better, but I played against a great tennis player and to beat him he has to play well and I have not done it”.

Inactivity: “I don't think you have to look for excuses in inactivity, I had done a level preparation and I felt prepared to win this tournament, but I had a bad day when I was not playing, in bad conditions for me. He has been better than me. in most of the game. You have to do self-criticism and that's why things have gone well for me in my career. There are things that I have to improve. “

Forces: “I did not run out of gas, I had done the most complicated and it seemed that things had changed, but I started the three sets with a break down and in the third I did it again after equalizing. There are many slaps against a great tennis player. It is a numerical thing, he got points with his free service, from the bottom the difference is little and if I get zero free points, but the opposite, because if you add and subtract the figure does not fall on my side. I have the ability to do it. much better and I hope I can in the future. “

Self-criticism on the track: “I have not complained, I was tired of having the feeling of hitting bad balls and I gave a yell because a lot has happened to me. More than talking, I was trying to find solutions during the game, I haven't talked much. I have fought, I have fought, I have saved a good second set, I have encouraged myself, it was not the day, there was no way to go back, because I have lacked things and I have played against a great player “.