We associate Rafael Nadal with grandiose terms that speak of almost bloodthirsty fights, of eternal battles for glory. Perhaps that is why his defeat by the last Count of Godó had an even more bitter tone… and he himself is the one who recounts it frankly, admitting that a great war was not in his plans.
And that is one of the things that, perhaps, leaves us saddest about his appearance in this last Count of Godó 2024. Because the joy of his first game, the excitement of seeing that incombustible and perennial forehand once again dominate a rival, contrasted too quickly with the lack of revolutions in an engine that he wants but, at least yet, cannot. It is his own Rafael Nadal who admits that a physical battle, in that second round of the Barcelona tournament against Álex de Miñaurwas never in his plans: that Playing at the highest level for at least two and a half hours of play was nothing short of a pipe dream.. He did it, hours after his defeat, in a few words with RTVE as concise as they are sincere… yes, with one last hope: that of reacting to a gradual increase in intensity that allows him, at least, to write the last pages of his golden story.
– Sensations in the epilogue of a beautiful story
“Good. The positive thing for me is that I have been able to play once again, a week ago I thought that I might not play again here in Barcelona, so this is the most positive thing. The second most positive thing is that I have finished the tournament without get injured: I have had to take a lot of caution and be very careful at all times, but it has been achieved. On the contrary, the shame is that I have not been able to play as much as I would have liked to try to play in the tournament and win it. Currently, I have had to play with the handbrake on, but there is no choice but to try to accept it at all times. It is not easy: it goes totally against my way of understanding the sport, but today it is. what there is, and I have to act as I have to to give myself options in the coming weeks.
– Thoughts during a match in which victory was only a fast track
“To be honest, I was playing against a top-level player who has performed at a very high level and has been doing very well all year. He has taken a step forward in his level and in his career. For me, he didn’t deserve anything more. I knew that when I lost the first set 7-5, the match was over. In the second set I had a chance to win some games, but I was not prepared, and this was more than discussed with the team, that I could not fight a match one-on-one. such high intensity for two and a half hours, which is what I would have needed once I lost the first set. There was a key moment: at 4-3 and 15-30 or 0-30, but I missed two returns, although they were the result of. the pressure I had at that moment, because I needed that first set to have a chance of winning. In the second there was only one vital thing in my head: not to hurt myself.
– New cycle towards recovery: what can we expect from Rafael Nadal in the next tournaments?
“We’ll see. My goal is, at least, to be able to play the tournaments… and then, day to day it will determine me to see if I can really play them, not at the level of results, but being able to fight for them, to fight to go out on the court and give it my all. My day to day will determine that, to see how my body adapts, how it tolerates the increase in loads. I’m going to give it my all and fight to give myself opportunities, because today I haven’t been able to fight. what I would have liked in the second set.”
2024-04-19 05:00:00
#Nadals #harsh #reflections #defeat #Godó
