Nadal: Playing More Aggressive Means You Are Playing Well

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 26th August 2013

Nadal: Playing More Aggressive Means You Are Playing Well

epa03836192 Spanish Tennis player Rafael Nadal speaks at a media interview at the US Open Tennis Arthur Ashe Kids' Day in Flushing Meadows, New York, New York, USA, 24 August 2013. The first round of the Open begins on 26 August and runs through 09 September 2013. EPA/PETER FOLEY |

Rafael Nadal was pleased to hear that Novak Djokovic had high praise for this recent play but said that the while the Serbian’s analysis that his hard court success is coming from being more aggressive has some merit, the Spaniard believes that being in good form trumps style. Nadal who is coming off of back to back titles in Montreal and Cincinnati, is considered by many to be the US Open favorite.

“ I think you can play aggressive when you are playing well,” Nadal said. “That’s the first and important thing. Is true I’m trying to take the ball a little bit early, that I worked on my game to be a little bit more aggressive. But at the same time, is true that in the past when I was playing well on this surface I had good success, too. So it’s not something crazy that changed today that I had the chance to play well on hard, no? I won, and at the same time I can lose. Like a very tough match against Novak in Montreal, anyone can win the match. Then I have very tough one against Roger [Federer] in Cincinnati. Anyone can win that match. It was lucky that I won both.”

Nadal says that because he was able to build momentum, he became more and more confident. “In the end, it’s not great because I am confident for here,” he said It’s great because I won two very important tournaments for me. [The US Open] is a different event. I’m going to keep trying my best, and I hope to be ready for that.”

Nadal also repeated his assertion that hard courts are too tough on a competitor’s body overall. He somewhat blames too much hard court play for his chronically bad knees, but now appears to be saying that he’s held that opinion that the surface is damaging since he turned pro.

“In the past sometimes I felt not free to talk a lot about these kind of things, because then seems that I was talking because I played much better on clay than on hard,” he said. “Today I think I had good success on hard, too. I like the surface. I feel confident playing on hard. But is true that is something that I am talking not for my generation, because that’s not going to change, but for the future generations it would be better if they, ATP, can find a solution for that. Because the hard court’s still a little bit, in my opinion, too aggressive [on the body] to have a very long career.”

Nadal, who missed the first month of the season while rehabbing his knees, has had such a strong season that he could conceivably take over the No. 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic if he reaches the final and the Serbian loses before the quarters or if Nadal wins the title and Djokovic loses in the semis or earlier.

“This tournament, will make the difference,” Nadal said. “Is true that I am having a great season. I am in a positive position, but nothing decisive having a Grand Slam and 2000 points here. I am in this position because I played amazing, because I still have three very important zeros in my computer: Australian Open, Wimbledon, and Miami. That’s a lot of zeros to be No. 1. But I am trying. Be No. 1 is not my goal. My goal is be healthy, have the chance to be competitive, and finish the year with good feeling and having the chances to play well. That’s happening. At the end, you are No. 1 or you are not No. 1. I don’t gonna go and fight for the No. 1. We’ll see at the end of the season. If I am not No. 1, it still will be amazing season for me.”

Topics: djokovic, Federer, nadal, Tennis, US Open