During a long interview with Sport.es, Francisco Roig admitted that he was surprised by Rafael Nadal’s start to the season. Roig explained: “I don’t know where Rafael Nadal got the energy to do what he did. After Roland Garros, he took a few days off to recharge his batteries.
He made a great effort in Paris. He has decided to come to London with the aim of winning the tournament, but we know it won’t be easy. He feels at peace with himself, he loves the competition and he always does his best to reach the end.”
Francisco is moderately optimistic about Nadal: “Nadal hasn’t played this tournament for three years, so he will need a few matches to find the automatics adequate. If he plays a tournament every year, the adaptation process is much faster.”
In an interview with “CLAY”, Nikolay Davydenko commented on Rafa’s feat in Paris: “He put his health at risk with all those foot injections, but he did not break the rules. Maybe he really believed that it could be his last Roland Garros, so he went all out.”
Rafael Nadal amazed everyone in the first six months of 2022. The Spanish champion, who last year only participated in seven official tournaments, returned to big time winning the Australian Open against all odds. The former World No.
1 came from two sets back from Daniil Medvedev in the final after surviving two bona fide battles against Denis Shapovalov and Matteo Berrettini. The 36-year-old from Manacor was once again limited by physical problems in the following months, unable to play as much as he would have liked before Roland Garros.
Nadal is improving
Rafael Nadal believes his win over Lorenzo Sonego on Saturday was his best performance at this year’s Championships. “Well, yeah happy match, my best match without a doubt,” said Nadal. “Big improvement today, so very happy for that.
I made I think a lot of things better than the previous days, the determination, the way that I manage to play more aggressive going into the net. Happy, good victory against a great player.” The 22-time Major champion will face Botic van de Zandschulp in the fourth round on Monday.
“Well he is a player that has been improving – unbelievable the last year,” said the Mallorcan. “Was a good challenge in the French and I think here will be more no.” Showing a glimpse of his vintage form, Rafael Nadal kicked off the match in his usual fashion.
