Rome Masters 2024: Nadal, towards Roland Garros between two waters | Tennis | Sports

Rafael Nadal speaks still hot, just an hour after his elimination in Rome was certified – 6-1 and 6-3 in favor of Hubert Hurkacz, in 1h 33m – and without the necessary perspective for him to be able to make a definitive statement. . Roland Garros? “There are two paths,” he says; “One is to say that I’m not prepared or playing well enough, and then decide that I’m not going, or another is to accept how I am and work in the best way possible to try to get there in a different way in two weeks.” As it would be extremely strange for the Mallorcan to go against his own creed at this point in his career, everything indicates – if the physicist respects him during the preparatory auction, the asterisk is always obligatory – that he will finally be able to parade starting on the 24th Paris.

“The decision today is not clear,” he clarifies, “but if I have to say what my feelings are and if my head is closer to one path or another, I am going to say that I will be there and that I will give it my all.” Nadal, then, is now focusing on his kingdom of the Bois de Boulogne, where he will land with the bittersweet residue left by his passage through the Foro Italico, the culmination of an atypical and emotional tour of land for him, constantly tested and with the scent of farewell. . He couldn’t compete in Monte Carlo, little thorn; He managed to jump onto the Godó court, when his physique was on pins and needles and he himself didn’t expect it; He later progressed in the Caja Magica, where he increased the volume and intensity of the training, and was defeated by the splendid Jiri Lehecka in the round of 16; and he is now soon leaving Rome, the framework of a double conclusion.

The tennis player commented after surpassing the debut in the Italian capital against Zizou Bergs (103rd in the world) that from then on, he imposed on himself to force and give another blow in the process: “And if I break, I break.” That is to say, having obtained more or less reliable evidence that his body is capable of withstanding a sustained but moderate competition load, he wanted to check if he would resist a challenge that allowed no escape from Hurkacz. The Pole, currently the ninth best player in the world, carries a mallet that forces the extension and foreshortening time and again, demanding that abdominal area that has conditioned the Mallorcan’s preparation during the last three months; and the result, he conveys, has been satisfactory. Test passed.

“Physically I have some problems, but they are probably not enough to say that I will not play the most important tournament of my career,” he explains. Happy to have overcome the body ultimatum, which put his presence in the French great at risk, Nadal nevertheless regrets the technical and tactical diagnosis extracted from the second match in Rome. After arriving on an ascending line in terms of confidence, and having strengthened his spirits and greased the wheels with a succession of very productive days, the Spaniard – 38 years old on June 3 – regrets not having been able to extrapolate the good news to the competition. sensations obtained during training days. The optimistic dynamic achieved in the rehearsals with important players such as Stefanos Tsitsipas or Francisco Cerúndolo was not reflected against Hurkacz, the first opponent of the top-10 with which it has been measured since November 2022.

It is true that in Madrid he was able to beat Alex de Miñaur, eleventh in the ATP and executioner two weeks earlier in Barcelona, ​​but the Pole’s was a greater test that places him before a cold reality: today, his tennis is not enough for a higher challenge. Beyond the fact that he did not manage to convert any of the seven break options that he sought – which can offer a positive reading, because in the end he paid for them; five in the first game of the match—he was once again thick with his legs and maneuvers, and was unable to tickle the rest of a Hurkacz who broke his serve four times and who recorded half of the unforced errors (10-20 ). The most significant thing, in any case, was that the giant prevailed in most of the long exchanges and that he prevailed in the points settled from the trenches.

“I’m going to see what plan I’m going to carry out to be different from what I’ve been like today, and I’m going to try it,” says the man from Manacor, who, it should be remembered, if he finally participates in the major Parisian would do it without being seeded, for the first time in 20 years. His evolution since April has brought him, at least, a notable rise in the ranking, from 649th to 276th place. “If this is my last time here? I don’t know, but there’s a good chance that’s the case. We’ll see,” she points out. “Today it seems impossible to think about going to Roland Garros to compete for something, but physically I haven’t been that bad. I hope to prepare well and I hope to get there in good enough conditions to give me the opportunity to fight for everything I would like to fight for,” concludes Nadal, who sensed where the shots could go and now knows where the bar he aspires to is. to draw; above all, where exactly is he.

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