Rafael Nadal Wanted To Wear Grass Sneakers Today In Madrid, But His Request Was Denied
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Rafael Nadal
According to a post on tennis.com, Rafael Nadal lobbied to wear pimpled grass court sneakers for his second round match today in Madrid against Nikolay Davydenko. ATP officials, however, denied Nadal’s request to get a better grip on the slippery blue clay.
Former Andre Agassi coach Darren Cahill shed some light on the issue via his twitter account.
Cahill: “the French Open put that ban in place about 10 years ago. Agassi + others played with grass court shoes in Paris in 2002” … “they make a big difference. They don’t really damage a dry clay court, but really chunk up a damp court. Fair rule, imo.”
Reuters offered some quotes from Nadal on the much maligned playing surface after his impressive 62, 62 win, his 22nd straight on the clay.
“The court is not one that makes you feel comfortable,” Nadal said in an interview with Spanish TV via Reuters.
“You have to be realistic,” Nadal added. “The court is a difficult court, it’s very slippery and it makes supporting movements and getting back to defend very tough.
“But the only thing we can do now is turn the page and we are not going to get the red courts back tomorrow so we have to adapt to the blue courts and the conditions as well as possible and hope for a change next year.”
Nadal will play countryman Fernando Verdasco in the third round on Thursday.
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