Rafael Nadal hopes to be able to play the Rogers Cup in Montreal next week. The Spanish tennis player, who won titles there in 2005 and 2013, said: “I love Montreal. It’s a very special place for me, I have great memories and I love the city.
I feel very comfortable there, I know the city very well because it’s true that I was successful, but sometimes I lost very early, so I had the opportunity to visit the town. I remember there was a great atmosphere in the 2013 semi-final against Novak Djokovic, I played a lot of night games here and the crowd helps a lot.
It’s also great for players to come in, see a full crowd and have fun. Tennis in Canada is improving a lot, there are a lot of good players. The Canadian Tennis Federation is doing a great job.”
In an interview, Marco Cecchinato spoke about his four-set victory over Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros 2018. The Italian player said: “The best moment was the tie-break in the fourth set.
It was amazing, so many long stitches. It’s hard to describe the emotions”, added the native of Palermo, referring to his entire career at Roland-Garros: “In the first round, I was trailing by two sets, then I won 8-6 on the fifth.
Then I beat Pablo Carreño Busta, David Goffin, Novak. It was a dream. Then I played a very good match against Dominic Thiem. In the first tournament, on grass, I reached the semi-finals and then I won Umag, my first tournament on clay after the French Open”.
Nadal is ready
In his book, Rafael Nadal: My Story, Nadal explains in detail why he chose to be left-handed rather than right-handed. He said: “I’ve seen reports in the media that Toni forced me to play left-handed, and he did it because it made it harder to play against me.
Well, that’s not true. It’s a story that the newspapers made up. The truth is that I started playing very young, and since I was not strong enough to hit the ball over the net, I took the racket with both hands, forehand and backhand”.
Moreover, he adds, “one day my uncle said to me: ‘There are no professional players who play with two hands and we won’t be the first, so you have to change.’
Why, I can’t say. Because I write with my right hand, and when I play basketball or golf – or darts – I also play with my right hand. But in football, I play with my left; my left foot is much stronger than the right”.
