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ROLAND GARROS

May 31, 2017

Rafael Nadal

Paris, France

R. NADAL/R. Haase

6-1, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. What do you think of your performance?
RAFAEL NADAL: Good. I think I played a good match. No, no, I can't say another thing. I think I played a solid match. Hitting very well the ball with the forehand. I think my serve worked better than yesterday. Well, than two days ago.

I was more or less under control during the whole match, so very happy winning in straight sets is always great news, and Robin is a dangerous opponent always. He can serve very well. Hit very strong. I think I did a lot of things well this afternoon.

Q. You played with lots of energy and high intensity throughout the match, even when you were ahead. Is it important to your game to always play with high energy no matter what the score?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, it's obvious that I am a player that if I lose the intensity, if I lose the concentration, then my game become a normal game, no?

So to be a little bit different, I need to play with higher intensity than the rest, and I need to play aggressive with my forehand. And I think I did.

Q. You played Robin on Wimbledon, second round, tough match. Now it was a different match. What do you think of his qualities on clay for Robin Haase?
RAFAEL NADAL: He had some good results on clay, no? I heard his curriculum when...

Q. What is your opinion about your opponent about his clay game?
RAFAEL NADAL: He plays well. He has a good serve, good forehand, and good hands. You know, it's important to play, to have good hands on clay. And he has. I think he's a good player, that he's not having a bad year.

So let's see. On grass he can be even more dangerous. Let's see what's going on for him for the rest of the season. Is true that he's a player that has been not lucky during his career for his knee injuries a lot of times. I know personally how tough is this.

Probably without this he will have a better career.

Q. The French player was expelled yesterday, Hamou. He was expelled. I cannot pronounce his last name.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, I understand, yeah.

Q. He was expelled from Roland Garros because he was all the time trying to kiss female journalist on TV live program? He was too pushy. What can you say about those things? We don't see every day in tennis, in sport, as well. Can you tell me something about that? Your opinion on that situation.
RAFAEL NADAL: No. I cannot talk much about that. No. That's not -- something that happened in our sport, but they take a position, so they are free to do what they want.

The only thing that I can say is I watched the video, and it was a little bit uncomfortable for the girl. That's all (smiling).

Q. Does it feel any different to you or do you have a different feeling this year because Toni is going to finish in his role at the end of the year? Is being at the tournament here where you have had so much success special, different? What is it like for you this year?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, no, nothing. Well, every year is different, but I am not thinking about that at all. No, no, Toni is the most important person in my tennis career without a doubt. So a lot of things that I achieved are because he was there since I was three years old helping. Is true that there is a lot of other people that really helped me, too, my father and my mom, my family in general, and the rest, all the team later, no?

But, I'm here to play a tennis tournament. An important event for me. I cannot be thinking if Toni is leaving or not leaving.

Toni take his position. He's free to do what is good for him. I am happy that he will be involved in the academy more than ever, that's good for kids, and that's all good for the academy.

Besides that, probably will be not the last time that Toni will be here at Roland Garros. Probably is a tournament that he would like to keep coming back if I still playing. So I don't know from the beginning or not.

He's free to do whatever he wants. So is something that I don't think about, no? He's my uncle, I say hundred of times, but he's my uncle more than my coach. He's always free to come wherever he wants.

Q. Do you have any more treatments or medical exams to do on your wrist?
RAFAEL NADAL: No.

Q. It's completely gone? No medical checkup?
RAFAEL NADAL: Better we don't talk about these kind of things. We don't need to bring bad luck on these kind of things (smiling).

No, no, no, thank goodness, I don't feel anything on the wrist since long time ago. So treatment went well, so I didn't have no one feeling since the beginning of the season of the wrist. That's good news.

Q. You have played a lot of matches last couple of months. You have been winning so much. It's great. How is your body handling that? Are you able to handle things more comfortable now?
RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know, no? For the moment, I am fine. I don't know what's going on later, no?

It's obvious that I cannot miss the clay court tournaments. I am not doing incredibly tight calendar. But it's true that I played already six finals. When you play six finals and some other good tournaments, then you are playing a lot of matches. That's all.

But I am a tennis player at the end of the day. Tennis players play tennis (smiling). So I do what I believe is good for my tennis career. Is good for my happiness. And then we'll see what's going on for my body. But that's it. Always grass is a little bit tougher for me than this.

Q. Speaking of clay, do you think that the conditions today or throughout the tournament since the beginning, with the drier condition, is it helpful to your game? Do you feel better because it's dry and a little quicker through the air?
RAFAEL NADAL: Was unbelievable humid from the beginning. Is true we have two days the heat goes down, went down a little bit.

No, it's obvious that I prefer to play with sunshine, but sometimes if it's too much like three days before the tournament start or one day before the tournament start, then is too much for everybody. But today was great conditions to play tennis.

Q. Drier? Is it drier? Less humid? As far as the ball hitting the ground with the topspin. Should I ask the other guys?
RAFAEL NADAL: You can. You are free to do it.

I really don't think much about these kind of things, no? If it's dry or if it's humid, no?

It's true that if sun there, between 18 and 25 degrees, normally is good for me, because the ball flies and we have good bounces on my forehand, especially. Is true that if the temperature go down and is raining or these kind of things, it's obvious is a little bit worse for my game, no.

But in terms of being dry or humid, if the temperature is between the degrees I told you, normally is good for me.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish.

Q. Two quick questions. One about tennis. One about something else. 38 winning shots. Great drive. That was the first question.
RAFAEL NADAL: As you said, it was two questions. Yeah, I think I was very good with those shots. Was it 38, really?

But in any case, I felt I had things pretty much under control, that I could change the direction the ball went in. I didn't really think about it too hard, because when you think about it too hard, you can't act anymore.

So I tried not to think about it too much, and it went well.

Q. You looked into the camera and you made a kind of gesture?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I was just saying hi to a friend, because there was a party or something. It was really nothing important at all. It was, you know, silly young people like me do that kind of thing.

Q. In Australia, like here, you said that you made very good moves. You moved very well on the court because you felt pretty good.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yes. Well, with Toni, of course, we have a great relationship. Toni focuses a bit too much on the mental aspect. The physical aspect is really important, too. Toni always thinks the body will always follow. He thinks that when you have the right mindset, your body will deliver.

But in truth, physically, things are important too. If your mind is great, your shots go where they're supposed to. If you're not focused, you can lose time.

But then of course mentally it is important, but you also need to be really fit. It's better if you're not injured to move around with much more ease, to be comfortable running around and being in control of your every movement.

And then the rest comes from that. It's not just your mindset. It's both. Toni seems to think only the mindset is important. There are other things that can help to feel well mentally. So I do agree with Toni, but I think there are other things that come into account.

Q. Robin Haase said earlier that playing against you five sets on clay is the toughest challenge for any player. What do you think of the current statistics? What do you think of these five sets potentially?
RAFAEL NADAL: I'm here to play tennis. Now that I've just won again, I feel emotional. But before that, I try to keep things under control. I walk onto the court. I give my best. The opponent is always dangerous, because this is Roland Garros. It's the French Open. I need to focus on winning.

And then, of course, there are days where things go well. Other days when things don't go so well. And the fact that you play five sets, best of five, is more comfortable, because it gives you more time to deliver. So I play usually five sets only in important tournaments. So there are positive and negative sides to that.

But in any case, Robin had these very flattering words, and I'm grateful for them. But when I walk onto the court, I go there and I work point after point and I have deep respect for all of my opponents, of course.

It's true that I have lost a lot of matches in my career. Anyone can win or lose.

Q. You sent them back really well, because he usually is pretty good at sending back. How did you manage that?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, in the first match, I didn't serve that well. But today I served really much better than that. Yesterday when I was resting, I focused a lot on serving. I tried to improve on that.

But I think I had the knack. So my service was pretty good. It's always the same thing, really.

When I was playing throughout, my serve was pretty good. But, you know, it took a lot of work, a lot of hard work. And of course there is not just serving. There are plenty of opportunities that crop up. When you serve properly, you can gain an upper hand, with not the backhand, but you can actually dictate and control what you're doing. I think that's vital. You must never let yourself be dictated how you play.

In the past, there have been times when I could gain control, and then when you lose control of the game, your game play is affected. I need to be in charge, and I need to keep control of the match. I think I managed to do that today. That's how I won.

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