Rafael Nadal: I Still Think I’m Playing Well And I Will Fight For Another French Open Title

by Tom Gainey | May 16th, 2015, 10:10 am
  • 11 Comments

Despite a crushing loss yesterday in the Rome quarterfinals to Stan Warwrinka, who he led 62 in the first set tiebreaker, Rafael Nadal is still trying to remain positive ahead of the biggest event of the year for the Spaniard.

“The only thing that I am sure of is I’m going to try,” said Nadal. “The goal in Paris will always be the same one. I feel I’m playing well. I am confident that if I am able to play without nerves – I didn’t play with nerves today, I didn’t play with nerves most of the time the last three weeks, and that’s the most important thing for me.

“If I am able to control that, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to fight for it.”


Nadal will go into the French Open seeded no higher than No. 7 (No. 8 if David Ferrer beats Novak Djokovic today), which could put him against a Big 3 in the quarterfinal.

“I’m going to be ranked lower than ever playing Roland Garros, so that will mean the chance to play against very tough opponents,” Nadal said. “At the same time, if I go to Roland Garros and I lose and I don’t play well, life continues. It’s not the end of the world.

“I won so many times there,” he added. “It’s normal that I could lose. Losing is part of life. I can be there, play bad and lose early, but I’m going to fight to change that and try to fight again to have a good tournament.”

Nadal is 17-5 this year on the clay, which is more than he lost from 2006-2010.

This is also the first time since 2004 Nadal goes into the French Open without a European clay title on the season.

“I know I can play well in Paris,” he told tennisworldusa.com. “The center court is bigger there, the ball bounces higher like I like it. I am sure if I can play well I still have a shot at winning, and I am confident I can do it.”

The French Open begins a week from tomorrow.


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11 Comments for Rafael Nadal: I Still Think I’m Playing Well And I Will Fight For Another French Open Title

skeezer Says:

There ya go. Big court, high bounce…..and slow.
They call that “Rafa” conditions. All advantage to Nadal. There in lies some of reason he’s won it 9 times.


brando Says:

^ so a player who excels in a event may do so because of favourable conditions? Dont lie to us now Sherlock. There I was thinking novak excelled at AO not USO because he liked the crowd. That Federer excelled moreso at Wimbledon not USO because he’s fond of the colour green. Such a revelation, lol.


skeezer Says:

“There I was thinking novak excelled at AO not USO because he liked the crowd. ”
Court conditions are way different than crowd conditions. Never heard a player the reason he is winning depends on the crowd, wtf?
Colors don’t matter either (unless it is blue).


Giles Says:

As far as I can remember AO champ is cursed to lose at Roland Garros. Remember 2009??


Navdeep Says:

@ Giles
you are 100% right. Everyone talks about calendar slam but in reality even the half slam ( ao and fo) hasnt happened in more than 2 decades


Giles Says:

Lol. Just heard Mirka is not expected to attend fed v Wawa match tonite.


Brando Says:

@Giles:

Is that Mirka- Wawa tiff still going on? Thought that was over with and there is no more dispute.


Zozza Says:

Good luck Rafa


Zozza Says:

The centre court is bigger
Ball bounces higher
If it’s sunny dry weather
It favours Rafa
But his form is not good
Someone will beat him on current form surely
Winning 10 is going to be so hard


Michael Says:

Who can dismiss outright the chances of a 9 time Champion ? Rafa is in with a chance definitely but this time around he is not the strong favourite to win the title.


Miles Nicholas Says:

I thought Nadal might have an outside chance of retaining RG until I saw the Wawrinka match – he was looking breathless after fairly straightforward rallies! I’ve also never seen him mis-time as many shots – he looks a shadow of his former self.

I just can’t see that he’s in condition to win the best of 5 sets against the big hitters – I believe an underlying physical issue is hindering his fitness levels. We saw the same thing with Federer in 2013 and Murray last year.

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