Rafael Nadal Talks About His New Babolat Racquet And His Shorter Shorts!

Following a very impressive straight set win over Mikhail Youzhny, Rafael Nadal talked about the new racquet Baolat PLAY Aeropro Drive he is using.

“The racquet for me is very similar one to the last one,” said Nadal. “Didn’t change almost nothing. The new Babolat is a new technology that probably will be the future in our sport. I think is great that Babolat did that. Is a big improvement for everybody who loves our sport, no? For the kids, for the amateurs who plays the sport, who plays tennis, and for professionals. At the end, we are professionals. We arrived here without using this technology, so it’s a little bit more difficult to adapt to this.

“But is a help, no? When you finish the practice, is a help to see – or a match – how many forehands you played, how many backhands so you know you are doing the right thing. For example, I know to play well I need to play 70% of forehands; 30% of backhands. If I’m not doing that, I know I not doing the right thing on court. That’s a way that you can check these kind of things. Then for amateurs is good to compare after the match where they’re hitting the ball, after practice where they are hitting the ball. They can compare with another thing. At the end is fine for the people who has passion for this sport, for tennis, no? I think is great. I am really sure that in the future everybody will use that.”

Nadal also talked about his attire, specifically his short which appear to be getting shorter by the year.

“To make the shorts shorter is something that I like,” Nadal said. “I feel more comfortable this way. We make it shorter already last year, and this year a little bit more. I like. I feel more comfortable here, more fresh. Sometimes is good to have some changes, to try different things. But seriously, I prefer this way.”

The former Australian Open champion continues on his quest for a second Career Slam Wednesday against Tim Smyczek.