Dominated by Alex De Minaur in the second round of the Barcelona tournament for his return after more than three months of absence, Rafael Nadal still has a way to go to be competitive before the probable last Roland-Garros of his career. But the Majorcan is ready to make any sacrifices to achieve this.
The day after an uneventful return against the Italian Flavio Cobolli, Rafael Nadal fell on a bone. Facing the Australian Alex De Minaur, the 37-year-old Spaniard, with 22 Grand Slam titles, was subjected to the law of a player of a completely different caliber, currently at the gates of the world’s top 10, and who gave him showed the extent of the road to be covered to hope to become the master on clay again.
“The 6-1 in the second set is what had to happen today,” Nadal said at a press conference, explaining that he wanted to take it easy. “This is how I have to proceed today, to give myself a chance to be competitive at Roland Garros,” he added. “I will try to take another step in Madrid, then in Rome, and if in a tournament it is worth giving everything and dying, it is in Paris.”
A physical condition to perfect
Resistant and even at times vintage in the first set, with some flashes reminding us of the extent to which his left arm is capable of doing damage, Nadal ran out of juice in a second one-sided set, paying for a physical condition to perfect and a lack of obvious rhythm, especially in phases of exchanges with changes of course, like the numerous drop shots on which he did not throw himself.
If he gave up, facing De Minaur, determined to win an always prestigious victory on earth, against the ogre of ocher, Nadal nevertheless betrayed no discomfort on the physical level. Weighed down by repeated pain, he had not played on the ATP circuit since a hip injury in Brisbane in early January.
However, for the Spaniard it was a question of not relapsing in view of the great challenge which awaits him in two months at Roland-Garros, where he dreams of nothing other than a 15th coronation. He still has two months to improve his physical condition. His biggest challenge obviously.
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2024-04-17 19:12:44
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