Nadal, road to Paris
The Balearic tennis player is training these days in Manacor and will head to the French capital next week to compete at the French Open.
After clearly losing in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome against the Polish and world No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz, Rafa Nadal returned to Manacor with plenty of doubts. The Spaniard will train these days at his academy and next week he will head to Paris to compete at the French Open (May 26-June 9), as told to AS.
Nadal felt good while practicing at the Foro Italico against top players, but those sensations didn’t match his match performances, which surprised him and his team. However, his work days in the Italian capital didn’t take a physical toll on the 22-time major winner. Rafa, who’s close to turning 38 (on June 3), wanted to push his body to the limit, although that meant a big risk for him given his extensive injury history.
In that sense, he’s feeling good, according to what his team said to AS. Emotionally, he got a big boost after the improvised and unprecedented tribute from thousands of fans at the Internazionali d’Italia facilities. That made Nadal’s return home trip less painful than expected.
Nadal to exhaust all possibilities ahead of the French Open
That is why he wants to try every single possibility of being successful at the French Open, where he has been champion 14 times. He said it in an interview with the France 2 television channel.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be competitive at Roland Garros. I’m going to go out to play the tournament thinking that I can give my all, that I can play at my 100%, and if my body is not there to win any game, then accept it, but not go out on the court knowing that I have no option,” Rafa pointed out.
Nadal is virtually the world’s No. 276, although he will play with a protected ranking (No. 34) at Bois de Boulogne. However, that advantage won’t help him avoid facing top-seeded players soon, as happened in Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome.
The Manacor-bred star wasn’t used to facing dangerous curves in the early stages of tournaments. That’s why he tries to get ready with the help of top players such as Stefanos Tsitsipas, with whom he trained a few days ago in the Italian capital. That will happen again in Paris. And if things go well, we will see the King of Clay perform, at least once again, at the Philippe Chatrier court.