Italian Open: Rafael Nadal gunning for warmup ahead of French Open blockbuster, says, ‘My body takes time to fire up’- Rafa Nadal’s return to action after more than a month out due to injury saw him lose to teenager Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid quarter-finals but the 21-times Grand Slam champion always knew it would take some time for his “old machine” to fire up. Follow more Updates with InsideSport.IN
The Spaniard, sidelined by a rib injury at Indian Wells in March, hopes to build momentum in Rome before launching his campaign for a 14th French Open crown.
“It’s not the same when you’re 19 than when you are almost 36, with all the issues I went through in my career. You need to build again the confidence, your movements, then you start feeling comfortable with your tennis.
Italian Open: Rafael Nadal gunning for warmup ahead of French Open blockbuster, says, ‘My body takes time to fire up’- check out
“It’s more about being confident with my movements, recover the speed, recover the way that I have to play on clay and let’s see. I’m confident that I can play well. I need time, but maybe this week can be a positive week, maybe not. Who knows?”
Nadal, a winner of three titles this year, lost to Novak Djokovic in the Roland Garros semi-finals last year, just the third time he was beaten at the claycourt major since his debut there in 2005.
The Spaniard said he was doing all he can to be fully ready for the tournament, which starts on May 22.
“That’s my goal … I didn’t have another chance to approach this claycourt season with the things I went through,” he said. “I’m going to give myself a chance and we’ll see what’s going on.”
Italian Open: Rafael Nadal gunning for warmup ahead of French Open blockbuster, says, ‘My body takes time to fire up’- check out
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