Rafael Nadal: "I'm not worried"



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Rafael Nadal: "I'm not worried"

Rafael Nadal started 2023 in a diametrically opposite way compared to 2022, given that in Australia he had finished 11-0, and overall he had won the first twenty matches of the season and the first 19 at Grand Slam level.

Now, two wins and two losses. The Spaniard, obviously present at the press conference, after the challenge with de Minaur, who had obviously lost the previous four, didn't limit himself to a trivial analysis. Nadal explained: "What made the difference? He played the important points better than me.

I made a few too many mistakes when he counted, mistakes you can't make if you want to win games like this at a certain level. I need to spend a lot of time on the court, playing, hitting the ball. I've played seven competitive matches in the last seven months, so I need stuff like that.

They have been two days that have helped me in this respect. Looking at things from a certain perspective, it wasn't the right conditions for me because the ball fell asleep easily. I don't know if it was the balls, the humidity or something else, but players who play flatter have the advantage of these kinds of conditions."

Rafael Nadal: "I'm not worried"

Rafa the added: "But that's no excuse, absolutely, I think I played good tennis, just not consistent enough when he counted.

I still have two weeks before the Australian Open starts. I certainly can't say that for the moment it's the ideal situation, but at the same time it's not that bad either. In some moments I think I played great tennis. I need to win a few games now but the level I expressed was positive.

A year ago? It would have been impossible to think of achieving those results. I'll have to train much better in the next two weeks to get to the Melbourne appointment at my best. In terms of tennis, playing sets and hitting the ball against top guys could probably come in handy.

This is what I aspire to. We're just getting started and honestly I'm not even that worried. Last year I lost the two matches in Abu Dhabi and then we all know how things went."