The curse of Rafael Nadal in Paris continues. The world No. 2, who returned to competition after a two-month absence, was knocked out in the second round by American Tommy Paul, 31st at ATP (3-6, 7-6 (4), 6- 1 in 2h31). If the Iberian, 36, has often had to give up before or during the tournament, this is the first time he has had to pack up as soon as he appears on the banks of the Seine.
“He played with the right intensity and the right concentration, summarizes Nadal, not dejected by his early setback. He took risks. Me, I tried to do that for a while, but I couldn’t manage to keep going. It was a good game for me considering it’s my first game in a while. On this surface, you can’t make a mistake on serve. »
After dominating the first round, the Spaniard seemed to be heading for a quiet success. But the Majorcan paid dearly for his somewhat baroque preparation for the last Masters 1000 of the season with the birth of his first son three weeks ago. Big lack of settings, like his many lasso forehands usually millimeter and this time in the corridors. And a huge physical drop in the last round perhaps betraying a reminiscence of an injury…
“For old bodies like mine, it’s always an uncertainty to see how we’re going to get out of it,” he explained on Tuesday during the traditional press conference. When you play several tournaments in a row, it’s easier to know how you feel. When you’ve been off the circuit for a while, it’s hard to predict how you’re going to play, how your body is going to react… I’m going to do my best and accept how things are going to turn out. »
The man with 22 Grand Slams had however arrived very early in the capital to acclimatize to the conditions of the Central and try to win one of the rare tournaments which are missing from his list. Almost ironic when we won 14 times in the Grand Slam held on the other side of the capital. The finalist of the 2007 edition will quickly leave to pamper Mallorca. And get ready if there’s still time for the Turin Masters, which starts on Sunday 13 November. A test where there too he never managed to win…
“I’m excited to play there, even though the last few months haven’t been perfect for me, but I have nothing to lose after a good year,” he said. So I’m going to go out there and do my best. I need track days, because in the last five months I haven’t had enough track days. If I feel good, I will try to arrive a little earlier than usual to be able to train and give myself the possibility of having a good ATP Tour Finals. This may be the last at my age, so I’ll do my best to enjoy this one. And next year I will try to fight to come back, to put things in perspective…”
Tommy Paul will face another Spaniard, Pablo Carreno Busta, on Thursday to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
