Washington, Aug 1 (EFE) .- Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal will play again this Wednesday at the Citi Open in Washington with his sights set on the United States Open in September and he is looking forward to returning to the competition although he has had a preparation ” fairer “than he would want.
Nadal has been training in the American capital for several days to participate for the first time in this tournament in what will be his return to the courts since the break after his defeat in the Roland Garros semifinals against Novak Djokovic.
“I don’t know how long it will take to fully recover, the only thing I can say is that I will do my best,” Nadal said at a press conference, adding that he hopes the training in recent days has served him well. be “competitive enough”.
Nadal confessed, to questions from EFE, that he has lived “with sadness” not being either at Wimbledon or at the Olympic Games. “It is not pleasant but in the end things happen and you have to accept them the way they come because otherwise you could be frustrated all your life.”
He admitted that “unfortunately” he already has experience in this regard because he has “lost a lot” in his career due to physical problems.
That is why now, at this point in his career “more than ever” he has to be “attentive” to his physical condition to make the decisions that, as he stressed, help him to continue doing what he likes the most, to continue playing tennis at competitive level.
“My body decided for me, if I had been able to choose I would never have missed Wimbledon or the Olympics,” he also commented at this press conference.
Nadal does not know what will happen in the coming weeks and how he will arrive at the United States Open – which is played from August 30 to September 12 – but he did admit that he has had less time to prepare than on other occasions.
He reminded EFE in this sense that he has had a “fairer” preparation for the weeks that he has had to stop because of his foot and because he has spent more than two months without competing.
“I think I am taking steps forward and I hope to be prepared to compete well,” he added.
In his training sessions these days, Nadal has been able to be with other players who are going to participate in this tournament, such as the young American Sebastian Korda, who he said has a chance of being among the best in the world.
Nadal admitted, on the other hand, that Serbian Novak Djokovic is the favorite to win the US Open. Djokovic “has already won three – Grand Slam tournaments – this year, he can win all four,” admitted the Spaniard.
“Of course (Djokovic) is one of the clear favorites, probably the main one,” Nadal added.
The Spanish tennis player, in any case, said he was very happy to return to competition and also to participate for the first time in the Citi Open, a tournament with “a great history”.
It is also his first visit to Washington. He said he was “very impressed” with the city that he is already enjoying and that he hopes to be able to visit better these days.
(c) EFE Agency
