In the bowels of Martín Carpena, everything is queues and waiting, and now you need a pass to access the press room, since there are hundreds of special envoys and we can’t all fit in, and when I finally receive my ticket and sit down to listen to Nadal, with the computer resting on his legs, then Carlos Alcaraz is already on the court, fighting with Tallon Griekspoor.
The doubt is the present in the short and medium term, there are too many questions and too many open fronts, because we do not know what the Manacorí plans to do, now that he has compromised against Botic van de Zandschulp (double 6-4), and we do not know if he will be It will provide another opportunity in the coming days in Malaga, since Alcaraz is playing right now and, if the Murcian wins, we still have to wait for the decisive doubles.
-How do you feel now? Did you always believe you could play?
-What is internal is internal. Of course, it has not been an easy decision for the captain. But in the end I believed that I could be on the court, that I was the player who had the best chance of winning. The captain didn’t have to feel the pressure to put me on: he has seen it the same way. We all knew that what happened could happen. But until training yesterday (Monday) things were going well and David (Ferrer, the captain) saw me as the player who could play. In the end you have to make decisions, and David thought it was best for the team, not for me.
-But, did you feel that it could be your last game, or that you would be given another option later?
-I repeat: it is not my decision, it is the captain’s. He has taken this thinking that things would go well. Of course: if I were the captain, I probably wouldn’t put myself in the next tie if we continue. What I do know is that I lost the first match I had played in the Davis Cup (referring to my debut against Jiri Novak in 2004) and I lost the last one. “I have closed a circle,” he responded, painful and ironic.
-But is this going to be your last professional game?
-Don’t know. As I said before, there’s a reason we have a captain who makes decisions. I’m still a player although I still have a little time left, maybe a few hours. I said that if I didn’t feel ready I would rule myself out, but that wasn’t the case. I have trained well these days, but in competition I have not been able to perform as I would have liked. I hope there is another opportunity, but the situation is at its limit and even more so on this surface. I repeat: if I were the captain, I would put another player.
There was no data because in recent months he had not played, but in training he seemed to be fine.”
-Don’t you have the illusion of experiencing something like that again?
-I already believe it. I would live it every day. But what I want is one thing and what is best for the team is another. Today it was not clear what was best, there was the question of how he would respond. There was no data because he had not played in recent months, but in training he seemed fine. I did want to play, that’s why I’m here. If we win and David comes on Friday and tells me to play, I will do it with the utmost enthusiasm.
-How do you feel about yourself?
-I have done what I could, I have tried to contribute maximum energy but I have not been able to read the game fast enough to have my opportunities. The track was dizzying and everything happened very quickly. When you are out of competition, the automatisms that other players who are competing have are not present.
And so, in a flash, the manacorí left the room while the chroniclers who have been following him around the world for more than twenty years asked ourselves: “Is that it, is this so?”
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