‘Feel the ball better than when you’re younger’ – Rafael Nadal on needing less matches entering Grand Slams

Rafael Nadal says he does not need to play as many matches at his age going into Grand Slams.

It did not all go Nadal’s way, though, as he went a set down against the Italian not looking his usual self before suffering a nose injury at the start of the second set. His attempted backhand went wrong and his racquet bounced off the hard court, hitting him in the face and left him bleeding.

The 36-year-old admits to Eurosport’s Mats Wilander that the start of his match was “a disaster”.

“Yesterday was a disaster for one hour and 30 minutes,” he said.

“Then I started to be not perfect of course but much better. I think the third and fourth sets were a bit more normal and today [Friday].

“Grand Slams when you play for three hours the next day, especially at the age of 36, you don’t have a lot of room to practice a lot. It’s just about being on court, sweat a little bit, move your legs and find some feelings and that’s what I tried.

“It’s always a challenge when you have to adapt things to play then it’s a challenge. Now is the moment to make this and even if I am able to advance into the tournament maybe I will have another chance.

“At the moment it’s about avoiding risks and if I get injured then of course the chance to go very far in the tournament will be zero. I’m just trying to be as positive as possible to give myself a chance.”

Since Wimbledon, Nadal played in only the Cincinnati Masters to prepare for the hard court Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows. That ended in a first round defeat to Croatia’s Borna Coric in three sets.

Before SW19, he played just one warm-up tournament at Hurlingham, two clay events entering Roland-Garros in Madrid and Rome and two before the Australian Open in Abu Dhabi and Melbourne.

Nadal insists he does not need as much match practice for Grand Slams at the age of 36 than he used to.

He said: “When you are getting older in some ways you feel the ball better than when you are younger. You don’t need that amount of matches and practices, but it’s true that the key is to have the right preparation.

“Even if you don’t compete then you practice the right way it’s less difficult. This year in Australia had been difficult because I didn’t practice exactly the proper way. Even tougher in Roland Garros no doubt after the stress fracture in the rib happened.

“It’s about getting used to accept these kind of challenges, stay positive mentally and when you know what you did in the past then in some ways it is a little bit less difficult.”

Nadal takes on France’s Richard Gasquet on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the US Open fourth round on Saturday.

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