Nadal: ‘I need to keep fighting’
The Spanish superstar is willing to improve his game after back-to-back defeats in the United Cup, which is being held in Australia.
Rafa Nadal will try to emulate his 2022 start of the season, winning the Australian Open impressively as he did against Daniil Medvedev in the final.
But to get to that level, the Spaniard will need to improve considerably his game, especially after his consecutive defeats to Cameron Norrie (3-6 6-3 6-4) and Alex De Miñaur (3-6 6-1 7-5) in the United Cup.
However, the 22 Grand Slam winner isn’t worried about his current form and stated will “keep fighting” to be ready in time for the first Major of the calendar.
“I need battles like this, I didn’t play many official matches in the last six months, almost seven, so days like this still help, the process is faster but I need to keep fighting, that’s it”, he said.
Nadal’s biggest struggle in the United Cup
Nadal was defeated in his first two games of the new season, but despite his form, he competed until the end and could have reversed the outcome if his ‘killer instinct’ had been present during the key points.
The current World No. 2 is well aware of it and talked about his main flaws: the break points he couldn’t take advantage of and lowering the level when things were going his way, something very unusual in his game.
“I was able to play some good tennis (against De Miñaur) but not consistently enough in the second set, break at the beginning in the second, chance to win almost every single game five-one, or even six-one, and I’ve lost six games in a row, so can’t happen”, he admitted.
“I have two weeks before the Australian Open start. I can’t say that the situation is ideal, but at the same time I can’t say that it’s very negative because for moments I was playing well, and I think that those matches are going to help me”, he concluded.
Nadal will face a tougher challenge this year if he wants to lift the Australian Open trophy due to Novak Djokovic’s return following his deportation last year and the explosion of teen star Carlos Alcaraz.