|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
WESTERN & SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERSAugust 18, 2006Rafael NadalCINCINNATI, OHIO THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You played Juan Carlos four times before today. You were successful. What happened today? RAFAEL NADAL: Maybe he play his best match against me for sure, no? For sure I don't play my best match in my life, but I wasn't play very bad. He play good match. That's all. I am playing better this week. I am happy for that. I improve a lot than last week. But today I have my chances, but he play good important moments. I play very bad especially the first tiebreak. Q. The rain delay came at a very bad moment for you, didn't it, 4-5 down, second set? Did that increase the pressure? RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, sure, was bad moment because I was coming back better. I have one 15-40 in the last game. He had two unbelievable serves. But I have a very good chance there for won the second set, no? So after that he play good. He play unbelievable the second tiebreak. Very, very good all points, no? I was play very bad the first tiebreak, but after I have my chances, and he play better than me in important moments, no, so. Q. When you double-faulted in the first tiebreak twice, did you lose focus? What do you think happened? RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. If I was know, I wasn't be the double-fault, no? So, you know, sometimes you miss the feeling in some important moments. Normally I don't have this problem, but today I had mistakes in important moments. Q. So how are you feeling about how you're playing heading into the Open? RAFAEL NADAL: I am improving. I improve a lot here from Toronto. That's important for sure. Now I am disappointed but because I am playing better and was a good opportunity for me for play a good tournament here. So I play the quarterfinal. Is not very bad tournament. But, sure, my expectative is a little bit better, no? Okay, we will see in the Open, no? I was practicing a lot this week. I was working a lot this week. That's important. Good work, so I gonna continue. I have one week and two days more for practice and for put me at my hundred percent physical in tennis. So I will try that, no? I have a lot of illusion in the US Open, so I gonna try. Q. Do you have the feeling that on hard court everything seems to be possible, more possible than on clay, on grass; every game seems to be very tough? RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. Maybe, you know, maybe if I am playing my best tennis today I was winning, no? I have my chances. But if you are not playing your best, the match always is very similar against any player. And if Juan Carlos is playing with very good confidence - he was No. 1, he was one of the best players in the world - and he is playing well this week - he won against James Blake, one of the best on this surface, he won against Soderling yesterday - so that is a good result. He is coming with confidence. This is a tough match for me and for everybody. I can lose, and I lose. Q. In the first set you seemed - very unusual for you - tired. Was it the humidity? You didn't seem to have the energy. RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, yeah, I was tired some moments. The humidity was unbelievable today. Didn't know. Maybe one month out of competition, sometimes when a match come back tough, you feel tired, no? But that's important for my preparation for the US Open, too. I play very tough match today, very tough match the first day, so that's important, too, for put me in my hundred percent, no? I gonna continue working very hard next week for arrive to the U.S. with my best. I don't know. We will try.
End of FastScripts... |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|