RAFA AKA RAFAEL NADAL IS CONFIDENT HE IS PREPARING FOR SUCCESS IN PARIS @ THE FRENCH OPEN

Written by: Staff on 30th April 2015

SPANISH TENNIS PLAYER RAFA NADAL TRAINING

RAFA AKA RAFAEL NADAL IS CONFIDENT HE IS PREPARING FOR SUCCESS IN PARIS @ THE FRENCH OPEN

epa04725839 Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal during his training with his countryman Fernando Verdasco at the Caja Magica pavillion in Madrid, Spain on 29 April 2015, where from 1 to 10 May will take place the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament. EPA/JUANJO MARTIN |

Rafael Nadal is counting heavily on the emotional lift he expects from playing in next week’s Madrid Masters to help lift him out of his current uncertain state on the clay, The winner of four titles at the home event – including two in the last three years – is trying to recover his legendary form after last week’s third-round loss in Barcelona.

For the 28-year-old Spaniard who won his first Madrid title a decade ago, three could be no better venue, though he has never been shy about complaining over the difficulties he has controlling the ball in the capital’s altitude.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball to his compatriot Nicolas Almagro during their second round match at the Conde de Godo tennis tournament at the Real Club de Tenis in Barcelona, Spain, 22 April 2015. EPA/ANDREU DALMAU

“Playing in Spain is always special. It is playing at home, with your fans, with your people who will support you unconditionally,” he told the tournament website in the run-up to the event. “Be it in Barcelona, Valencia or Madrid, which are the three places where I’ve played ATP tournaments in Spain. It is always special.”

Nadal said that despite his injury-plagued 2014 and slow start in 2015, he feels ready to turn the corner back to full fitness and power. “Injuries are part of my career. Fortunately it (the latest ones) are in the past.

“Living with problems is part of life. What you have to do is be able to live with them and overcome them.”

The nine-time Roland Garros winner said that circumstances are different in his tennis now than when he broke through more than a decade ago. “I’ve lost the physical freshness that maybe comes with youth. Also various injuries I have had have prevented me from training in the way that I used to.

“But in the end, on balance, things are more positive than negative, of course. I think I’ve changed in most facets of tennis.

“Not so much on an internal and personal level. Of course, ten years have passed and therefore I am no longer that 18-year-old kid, but I think I am essentially the same.

“It’s not easy to point to one reason for what I have achieved. It certainly has a lot to do with hard work, a lot of training and with everything needed to win a tournament.

“It’s difficult to win any tournament, especially a Masters 1000, where practically all of the world’s top 50 are playing in the same week.”

Story via Bob Larson news service.

Topics: Clay tennis, French Open, Paris, Rafa, Rafael Nadal, Roland Garros

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April 30, 2015 at 1:25 pm

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