It’s not a match, but Suzanne Lenglen looks as if it were, at least, a big time semi-final. The stands are full and there are lines waiting for their turn to enter. It’s Saturday, family and children’s day at Roland Garros and on that charming court he appears Rafael Nadal in another of those full hour and a half training sessions, this time against Holger Rune, with whom he is preparing for this very special edition of the tournament.
He then has another practice session, and almost official match sets against great players all won: Korda, Medvedev, Wawrinka, Navone and Rune. And it brings excitement, as reflected in his passage through a crowded press room because no one wants to miss these first words from the 14-time Musketeers Cup champion.
The staff is expectant with that debut against Alexander Zverev, which in 2022 was a semifinal, no one, however, is convinced that the Spaniard cannot be the Nadal that he always becomes in Paris and complete another marvel. He arrives with few matches, after a blank 2023 with an operation, and against a Zverev who has grown a lot on clay and who has just become champion in Rome, although with a team without great fighters, it must be said.
The Spaniard found out suddenly, he explained later: “I was playing Parcheesi and someone told me the draw. The reaction is something I expected in some way. It’s part of tennis when you’re not seeded. I don’t know if it’s luck or no luck. In theory it is not the best draw, it is one of the most difficult rivals. So what can I do? Just be prepared for it. No. A disaster can happen like in Rome, of course. But in my mind there is something else: the opportunity to be competitive again. I haven’t played against these players and this level in a long time. I also ask myself this. It’s not the first time. ideal, but it is what it is. And I want to be prepared.”
He admits that he is not perfect, that the sensations in Rome were not the best, that he has grown this week in Paris because he is now free to move. “I don’t know how competitive I am. Because the competition tells me that a week ago I made a disaster in Rome, I lost 6-1 and 6-3. But internally I feel better. I have had one of the worst possible rivals in the first around and it doesn’t help, but it is what it is. He wants to make things clear from the beginning, although he only raises more doubts that will be resolved over time: “I still think that it will be my last Roland Garros, which there is a good chance that it will be. But if you force me to say if it will be the Lastly, I’m not in a position to say one hundred percent, luckily. If they have to pay me a tribute on the court or not, it will be spontaneous with the public and it’s not necessary. If I come back playing, they will do it for me. If not, they will do it as it comes another time.”
I wanted to come to Roland Garros no matter what, even if there were some unknowns after Rome, which was a “disaster” due to the sensations and the result against Hubert Hurkacz. “My feeling is that I had not improved after my last match. My reaction was that I wanted to play here and I had to check the level of tennis, mentality, physical aspects in the days after. I immediately did not want to say anything after that match in Rome. I wanted to give myself a few days to see how I felt in all those aspects. And I felt better, mentally with very good motivation and I feel better physically too. I am improving and I have fewer limitations than a few weeks ago.
He later expanded on these fewer limitations in words although he has expressed it on the court, with high-level training and all his sets against top players won: Sebastian Korda, Stan Wawrinka, Daniil Medvedev, Mariano Navone and Holger Rune. “It is the first time since I returned that I am training very well and running in an adequate way, without limitations and that encourages me. I don’t know if it will have an impact on Monday, because I haven’t played at this level for a long time. But for me it is wonderful and it’s hard to think about for a while. From the bottom of my heart I feel that if I couldn’t have a good result here, I wouldn’t be here. The motivation is there and it’s a hope to play well here. training, especially in the movements. Whether it will be enough or not, he will see from Monday, his premiere with Zverev: “I am grateful to be here and to give myself one more chance. Maybe the last one, maybe not. I don’t want to create confusion. I feel competitive in the training, maybe not so much in the games. And I have more confidence than others.
He reiterates again that he never said that this would be his last Roland Garros. That there are many options, but you don’t want to feel that you haven’t tried effectively and without pain, a little more: “The limitations that took away my hope of continuing are fewer. If that lasts over time, I think I can continue.” being competitive. I don’t want to feel like I’m retiring and I’ve tried it for a week? I haven’t had the option to do it physically well for a long time, an operation with a very long recovery, I get injured again. And if I get injured again in a month, well, I will feel it, this is what happened to me. Madrid did know that it was my last one. But there are other tournaments that I have not played. and I want to explore how far I can go. Let’s see what happens.”
“There is a good chance that it will be the last, but if you tell me if I say it one hundred percent, then no. I have gone through a great recovery process, suffering a lot, until I feel better now. I react by my sensations and I feel better that a year and a half ago. I don’t want to close this door one hundred percent. My family and I are enjoying this process. I haven’t been able to play well physically. In a month and a half I may feel that it is worth it, it is enough or not.
For him, Roland Garros is magical, training here this week does him more good than playing other tournaments like Lyon or Geneva, as Djokovic has done. But not enough to make his body perfect all of a sudden, he jokes. But he does remember that he has done things to get to this point where he feels competitive, at least in training. Of course, he appreciates all the love he is receiving on every track he steps on. “I can only thank the fans, the players, for the love they transmit to me. It is much more important than the results. Creating this image that people want to see you is something to feel very proud of. It is great to feel the affection of everyone who They are involved in tennis everywhere I have played.
Also in 2022 he arrived very badly, with a foot that he did not know how to make it work and with great disappointment in Rome, defeat in the second round against Denis Shapovalov. But he doesn’t see similarities. The process has been different. “It’s very different. I had a very bad foot, I left Rome lame. But my level of tennis was very high, I had won Australia and I broke my rib in Indian Wells. I put my foot to sleep and it allowed me to play. To be well and be competitive was close. Now I feel it in a different way. We started from very far back, the most in my entire life, and with two years more. And on top of that I don’t come as seeded. But it is Nadal and he knows that he is transforming into Philippe Chatrier: “I don’t close the door on anything either. I feel like I’m training well, but afterwards I don’t have a scale because I’ve played little against these top players. I don’t have the concentration, the automatisms, which is built little by little over the weeks; I haven’t had time to do them. Now a little more, but I have played very limited, with very little mobility and it affects my daily performance and also my daily enthusiasm. something with a different feeling and I am excited to be able to compare. I am aware that it is a utopia. But if I did not have a minimum of hope of being able to play well, I would not be here.”
For this reason, he stands out with phrases that also come from the heart: “These training sessions tell me that I am not that far away. I am not perfect, but I am being competitive in all the training sessions against important people. The shame is that it is very close now and Very little time has passed. It is the first week in which I feel free to play thinking about the ball and nothing else. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what movement I can or cannot do, it has weighed me down a lot. Priori, that time of feeling competitive and free of movement is very insufficient, but reality will tell.”
2024-05-25 12:02:02
#dont #close #door #percent
