MELBOURNE SUMMER SET

January 9, 2022

Rafael Nadal

Press Conference

R. NADAL/E. Ruusuvuori

6-4, 7-5

Q. Your first tournament for the year and you're through to the final. It must be a good feeling.

RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, of course. Yeah, even if it was only two matches. To be back in a final of the tour is great. Of course I need to do a lot of things better on court, but the only thing that I am not missing is that positive attitude; don't get frustrated when things are not going the way I wanted.

It's normal that I'm having mistakes; it's normal that sometimes I am a little bit slower than usual. Last game was good for me. I think I did a lot of things better in the last game to have that break. But it's a process, and I always believed in the process during all my tennis career, and victories helps, and more hours on court, of course, helps a lot.

Happy for that. Tomorrow another chance.

Q. Your opponent Emil put up a very good fight tonight. What did you make of his game?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I know him because he has been in the academy so I've practiced with him a couple of times, has been in Mallorca, and I practiced with him during this week before the tournament started. He's very young. He's improving. He has big potential, so I wish him all the very best. He's a great guy, I think, and yeah, he had his chances tonight, and I'm happy to win against a good player like him.

Q. Tomorrow night you meet Maxime Cressy. Have you had a chance to watch him this week?

RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, he's serving huge, playing very, very aggressive, and in fast conditions he's very, very dangerous, so well done for him for being in the final after coming from the quallies is great.

I hope tomorrow I will be able to play at a high level and create my chances.

Q. I work for the Finnish agency, and you've known Emil through training at your academy, and I just wanted to know, it was the first encounter with him in a match; did he astonish you tonight? Did you see things you didn't see when you were training with him?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I think it was a good match. He played aggressive. He's difficult to know because as you can imagine after a long time outside of the competition and only having one match on my side, on the match always you need to get back to the routines, to the comfortable shots that you do automatically when you are playing very often, but for me now that's not the case.

I tried to do my thing, staying positive all the time, trying to find solutions. I think I made mistakes. I played some good points. But I need to be more consistent. That's obvious. But my serve was working well tonight, so that helps a lot, under these circumstances, and then I played a good game to close the match. That's the main thing. Victory helps a lot on this moment, of course, and that's what I did tonight. Win the match and play tomorrow again. Going to be another chance to do it better.

He's good. He has things to improve, but I think he's a serious guy and humble, so he will do it, and I'm confident that he's going to have a great career.

Q. I just wanted to know, did you watch the documentary of Mardy Fish in the last few months?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, I am sorry for that, but I didn't. I was not able to see it yet. But I will. A lot of people told me it's great.

Q. How about "Behind the Racquet," do you know that platform, about mental health?

RAFAEL NADAL: I am sorry, no. I don't know.