Nadal says he doesn’t fear defeat ahead of Australian Open

Rafael Nadal said losing two games in a row was not ideal preparation for his Australian Open title defense but the world number two believes he has no reason to be alarmed ahead of the season’s first Grand Slam, which starts in two weeks. After an injury-ravaged 2022, Nadal lost his debut in the United Cup mixed-team event to Britain’s Cameron Norrie last week and then was beaten by Australia’s Alex de Minaur, who went 3/6, 6/1, 7/5 this season. Monday (2) against the Spaniard who has 22 Grand Slam titles. This is going down to the wire! 😱#UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/gDoueX83DN — United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 2, 2023 But Nadal, who needed pain-relieving injections in his foot en route to the French Open title and withdrew from the Wimbledon semifinal with an abdominal injury to his last year said there are still bright spots despite their shaky start to the new season. “Almost six hours on the court. I need hours on the court. I need battles like this,” Nadal told reporters. “I haven’t played many competitive games in the last six months, almost seven. Days like these two help.” “Of course with victories the process is faster, but I need to keep fighting. That’s it. For a while I played a good level of tennis. Playing well with the backhand. Changing direction with the forehand.” Nadal said he felt good physically but needed to improve his speed and be more dynamic on court to boost his confidence ahead of the Melbourne Park tournament. “I have two weeks before the Australian Open. I can’t say the situation is ideal, but at the same time I can’t say it’s negative, because for a few moments I was playing well,” said Nadal. “I’m not too alarmed, too negative about what happened. Last year I lost two matches in Abu Dhabi and that’s it.” * Reproduction of this content is prohibited.


Agência Brasil