Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated world number one Novak Djokovic on Tuesday. in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, but the Spaniard recalled that it was not a final: “I haven’t won anything yet.”
“I haven’t won anything yet, I have only given myself the opportunity to play a semifinal again at Roland Garros in 48 hours,” Nadal declared at a press conference after winning an epic battle 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 ( 7/4).
(Juan Pablo Montoya: unexpected reaction when a ‘fan’ asked him for a photo)
(Sebastián Villa: police officers reveal possible inconsistency of the complainant)
“I’m going to have an exciting night for myself because of what I’ve been through in the last three months. (injuries), but starting tomorrow to prepare for the next match”, he added in reference to the semifinal against the German Alexander Zverev (N.3) next Friday.
After having to play five sets in the previous round against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, Nadal starred in another fierce battle that has led him to spend more than eight hours on the court in two days, something that seemed unthinkable three weeks ago in Rome when his battered left foot (in which he suffers from a chronic and incurable injury) betrayed him.
not trust
“As I already said in Rome, here I have my doctor and he does things that help me to play the tournament in the best possible conditions”, he declared without going into details and without dispelling all doubts about his physical condition.
“We will talk after the tournament, now is not the time to give many explanations”, he added enigmatically.
The Spaniard preferred to focus on his match: “It was without a doubt my best game in the last four months. Due to lack of habit of playing this type of match lately the second set has escaped me, but I have the feeling that if we look at the four hours of the match I have been more dominant for longer”.
This victory has “an added value for turning it around after losing the second set as I lost it, with two ‘breaks’ up”. And he admitted that he was not 100% confident in victory.
“It was a very big challenge for me and I had doubts if I could perform at the level I needed to have real options, so this means a lot to me, beyond what may happen in the tournament”.
“This track is special to me and perhaps the day I needed it the most I managed to achieve a level that I didn’t have recently and that now I have to maintain to give me options in what remains”, he insisted.
Nadal referred to the fact of having the majority support of the Philippe Chatrier public: “They know that for me it is the most important tournament of my career and they appreciate the effort I have been making for many years.” And about his rivalry with Djokovic he has no doubts: “We are making history in this sport.”
(Egan Bernal attacks the brave bars of Gustavo Petro, returns and charges)
(Luis Díaz and Liverpool would lose one of the team’s benchmarks)
AFP
#Rafael #Nadal #won #Roland #Garros #spoke #mincing #words