	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ROLAND GARROS

June 2, 2019

Rafael Nadal

Paris, France

R. NADAL/J. Londero

6-2, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. What do you feel about your game today?
RAFAEL NADAL: Good. Been a very difficult day. Very windy out there. So not easy to find the feelings. But with that conditions, I think I did a lot of things well.

Playing solid match against that player, being honest, he's good. He's very intense. Good shots from the baseline. Very aggressive.

Have been a positive victory for me.

Q. I was wondering if I could ask you about early in the second set there were a couple of interruptions. What was happening there? What was it that sort of made you go and talk to the umpire?
RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I know the same -- maybe you know more than me. I was in the middle of the court. So how can I know what's going on 100 meters up there.

I don't understand what's happening there.

Q. There was a separate incident with the umpire when you were serving in the eighth game. You got the time violation. You said, Okay, I agree with you, but they are still talking. In that service game and the previous one, there were people shouting out just before you were serving. Was this distracting for you? What were your thoughts on that?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, is not distracting me if I have the chance to wait for it. That's all.

No, no, that's the only problem about the current, I'm not against the current. But we need the umpires understand we need to stop, and they're doing a good job, being honest. I was late that time, that's true. But I want to serve -- being honest, I was late on that serve that I received a warning.

But I gonna serve on time if there was not, if they will not talk. So I was trying to serve quick, but then it was still very loud out there.

Okay, what I said to him or to her is, I am right with you. I was late. But being honest, they have been quite high voices out there. So that's fine. No problem (smiling).

Q. This would be No. 12 you're looking for this year. You've won 11 here. No one ever thought that was going to happen to anybody, ever. Just what's the feeling been like to have such an amazing thing at that age, to get to that point?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, what happened here, something really unbelievable, no? I don't know what can happen in the future or not. I am trying my best to compete well and to give a chance to be where I am today. Now gonna have tough match against Kei or Benoit.

So that's my goal now. But of course, yeah, 11 here already is something really unbelievable. I always say the same. Looks, I know, for the most of you, and even for me, looks so difficult to increase that number for anyone in the future. But if I did, I consider myself a normal person if I did. Probably gonna come somebody and gonna do it.

Q. You get to spend another birthday here. You spent quite a few here. How have the celebrations changed over the years.
RAFAEL NADAL: Not much, because celebrations are, of course, not that good when I am not here, because that means that I lost or I have been injured.

But in terms of party, is higher when I am at home than when I am here. Tomorrow what can I do? Just celebrate here a little bit with the people from the tournament, all the workers there that, being honest, for me, they are so special, because I always had an amazing relationship with all of them. And then probably have a dinner, small dinner.

But I play the next day, so not a big thing. And I am not happy to be 33 already (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Londero, what did you think about him? You played him. Did anything surprise you about his game? What were you expecting?
RAFAEL NADAL: I couldn't expect anything, because I never played him. So all I can say is that I can talk well about some of his points. I had seen some of his matches. He plays with a lot of intensity. He plays also with a lot of determination, aggressive shots, good first serve. He's a typical clay player, and he plays well.

Q. Usually you like playing with this weather, but today was a bit intense. It was hot.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yes, well, this morning it was even warmer when I was training, because then there was some wind and you didn't feel as warm.

But in the match, what was more of a problem was the wind more than the heat. When I played this morning, it was very hot, like, real summer weather. But this afternoon, okay, it was warm, but with the wind, this is diluted.

Q. Can you explain a little bit about the court?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I think I made a good match in view of these windy conditions. I made only one mistake, I believe, in the whole match; in 4-1 in the third set when 30-Love. But I believe that whenever a complex ball came to me, I managed it well.

Well, as I said, he's a good player, but I got 6-2, 6-3, 6-3, it's a good match, good victory in my feelings. Even though he's a player that not many people know about, he's a player who plays well. He's had important victories. He has a very good rhythm in his game, and he can be very dangerous on that surface.

Q. Victory No. 17, Roland Garros, only two defeats. I know they are only figures, but I don't know if anyone has such statistics in the sports world. Do you mind, or don't you care?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I can't say that I don't care, but in the final analysis, I focus on my daily matches. And, okay, today I won, tomorrow I'll train to be ready and do things properly, and then I'll play the quarterfinals, which will be difficult.

This is my daily life and my reality, so every day when you get to the court, you have the impression you can win or you can lose. That's what I feel.

Now, I'm not going to tell you that these numbers are not very special, but today I can't tell you I'm super happy about them, but I like these figures, but it's not the right time to talk about them or to rejoice about them.

I'm playing. I arrived here at a good time, and I'm going to try and enjoy this good track that I have. That's it.

Q. A strange question. At the end of the match, we saw that the cable of the camera was following you and touched you. Did that upset you?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, there are so many artifacts around, that something could happen. It didn't hurt me or anything.

Okay, I touched the cable, but luckily -- well, I think the camera shouldn't be so close that I can touch it. The other day I went to the court, and I hit my head against the camera. I didn't split my head open, thanks to a miracle, because I was wearing a cap. But, well, all these things are very important for information, for our sports. But sometimes they tend to forget that we're playing and we're in the middle.

The camera, well, I went on this court 3,000 times, training, playing, and the camera is always there but it was never that close.

Today nothing happened, but with the wrong gesture, something could have happened.

Q. If, in 2005, you'd been told that you'd still be here 2019, fighting for the title, what would you have thought?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I don't ask myself these kind of questions. Well, I know that people who know tennis kept saying that I would have a very short career because of the way I play.

Luckily, they were wrong. I play day after day without thinking about what's going to happen in ten years. I can't give you a forecast of what's going to happen in the long term.

I can control the short term and maybe the medium term, but well, I was ready to fight and win my first Roland Garros, and that's it.

Obviously when I was 18, thinking that I could still be here at the age of 33, it was probably something incredible and impossible to think about. Some people thought that I would finish my career a bit earlier. But, well, some of us have been pushing to continue fighting a bit longer.

Luckily, despite all the problems I had, the most positive thing is that I managed to maintain the desire and the pleasure of moments obviously with some highs and some lows.

But even when you had a low moment, I always found the motivation to continue and continue with my illusions and my hopes.

Also, I had people supporting me, my staff, my family, my sponsors, and people supporting me. Even the sponsors for your clothes who support you.

Q. What is the best thing you have done in this tournament? What would you like to improve in these three matches?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, the best thing is that I won these three matches. I lost only one set. I played tennis well.

What can I do better? Well, improve this level, which you always need to develop. You always need to develop your best tennis for the following matches. But otherwise, I believe I'm able to do it now. Am I going to do it or not? I don't know. My feelings are good. I'm going to continue training well. I'm running, as I need to run, to have hopes, and I'm going to play the matches. If I can continue, well, that's very well. If I can't, it will be more complicated.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297