Former world No. 1 Jim Courier thinks Rafael Nadal did just well in Madrid and losing to Carlos Alcaraz wasn’t a disaster. Nadal was out for a month and a half due to a rib stress fracture, before kicking off his clay season this week in Madrid.
After a first round bye, Nadal defeated Miomir Kecmanovic and David Goffin to progress into the quarterfinal. In the quarterfinal, Nadal stumbled upon Carlos Alcaraz. Nadal wasn’t at his best in Madrid and Alcaraz took the advantage of that as he beat the former world No.
1 6-2 1-6 6-3. “I think, on many levels, this is a good result for Rafa to actually lose this match on a couple of levels,” Courier said on Tennis Channel, as quoted on Sportskeeda. “He gets four days off to play at Rome, which is at sea-level, which much more mimics what he’ll face at Roland Garros from a conditions standpoint.
And he gets a chance now to regroup, hopefully, kind of reassess where he is, knowing that his rib is no longer a problem.”
Nadal didn’t want to blame his foot for the loss
After losing to Alcaraz, Nadal refused to blame his lingering issues for the loss.
Instead, Nadal said Alcaraz was better and deserved to win. “How’s his foot? That’s a question. I wasn’t sure his foot was going to feel good after the 2-hour match today, 3-hour match yesterday. Rumours that he was hobbling around to his press conference.
We know that’s going to be a present problem for him, ongoing,” Courier added. Nadal didn’t win Madrid but played three long matches and he now heads to Rome with matches under his belt. “I think all things considered, good week for Rafa.
Came out, got some match toughness, found out his rib could hold up, and now he’s pointing towards Rome and Roland Garros,” Courier concluded.
