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SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERS

October 14, 2010

Rafael Nadal

SHANGHAI, CHINA

J. MELZER/R. Nadal
6-1, 3-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Melzer hit 37 winners against you and you're a very big defender. That's a surprise, you cannot defend.
RAFAEL NADAL: No, you know, yeah, he played well. That's true. But I put him easier than usual, no, to play these 37 winners. That's true.
Well, that's tennis, no? And during the season you have better and worse moments and is impossible win every week. So this is the sport. You know, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and today wasn't my day. I didn't play well.
I felt slow on court. I had more mistakes than usual. I played shorter than usual. A little bit more tired than usual in general, just physically and mentally. Just congratulate him and that's it. Yeah, that's it.
No, no, no, wasn't surprise for me. It's true, he played very aggressive, but wasn't very difficult play that aggressive against me today.

Q. After playing three straight weeks, the final on Sunday, do you think that had anything to do with today, your performance?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I happy about my Asian season, no? I won a tournament. That's always the most important thing for me, is win a title than lose a final here because titles always stays there and the finals is to forget.
That's part of the sport, no? I arrived probably to this part of the season well, playing well, but probably a little bit more tired than usual. But that's not that unusual because normally if you don't have problems during the season, and you had more matches than the rest, a lot of weeks outside of home, is normal be a little bit more tired.
But is okay. All the good work is done for me for the year. So I am very, very happy about what happened to me during all the year. Remain two tournaments for me. Enjoy these ones and try to play better than today. I hope having these two weeks and a half off now, I have few days off, need to recover a little bit, I need to practice physical, need to practice tennis another time, adjust another time the shots and be better physically than what I was during all these three tournaments. And for the rest, I am happy how I am touching the ball.

Q. After the US Open, people think you might need a longer rest. You came back to play quickly, three tournaments in a row. Why did you decide to play three tournaments in a row?
RAFAEL NADAL: I decide to do that because I don't know when I started the season if I gonna win the US Open. I supposed to play two times in Bangkok in the past. I didn't played. So for me was impossible for me say no, I don't go another time. Honestly, I really felt that I have to go to Bangkok, and I went.
Probably was one of these tournaments I felt that I had to win the tournament because I was playing really well, and I lost an unbelievable match in semifinals. The normal thing, if I won that match, I was in the final, good chance to win another tournament. So I lost. That happens, is true. Is very few times.
Very short off time after the US Open. But when I planned my season, it's difficult to decide now if I don't play in Bangkok, I gonna be better here. That's stupid to say, no? I didn't play in Rotterdam this year because I had an injury. I didn't play in Barcelona. Finally it works well for the rest of the season. I arrived to Toronto and Cincinnati not very good because I didn't have a lot of time to practice. But I win there. And finally it works well to the US Open.
So we will see how I finish the season. I have two good goals: is try to finish the season well and try to play much better this year in London than what I did last year. Maybe not going to be very difficult that. Not only play better, have better results, too.

Q. Are you surprised by how the fatigue affected you today? Did you feel it before or did it hit you suddenly after the first set perhaps?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, in the first set I wasn't really tired. It was very fast. Didn't play long rallies. All winners for him and all mistakes for me, no? Is not a surprise for me be tired. I am not tired during all the match. I am tired before the match because I know is more difficult for me be focused a lot of time on one thing. When I go to practice, is a little bit more difficult than usual be focused all the time. That's because probably you need a few days off. That's what I think.

Q. What do you think of the influence of the audience? It seems too loud in the stadium?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, the public was perfect, like always, no? And the stadium is really nice. The crowd was fantastic. No, no. No influence, I think.

Q. You said you want to do better at London O2 this year than you did last year. Obviously, Wimbledon and Queen's has always been a happy place for you. Did you like the tournament last year? Do you think it was well-organized? What are your thoughts about going to London this year?
RAFAEL NADAL: Always when you have a tournament the first year, it can improve a few things. But the most important things was fantastic. The crowd was unbelievable. The atmosphere on court was really, really nice, no? When you go on court, is probably the nicest indoor court I ever played.

Q. Really?
RAFAEL NADAL: I think so, yeah. We can compare little bit with Madrid. That's all.

Q. You gave a very good answer the other day about the calendar. Without going all the way back again, I just wondered if you had any response from anybody in the game about what you'd said here a couple of days ago?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, no. Everybody knows my position in the council and in the board. Everybody knows what I said a few days ago is nothing new for nobody because I say that one year ago.
Just I think that is the better solution for all the players, not only for the top players, because we think about the top hundred players, 120 ranking, is much better for them because they have more chances to play, and for us, for the top 10 players, is good because if you want to play, you can play, and if you want to stop, you can stop. That's what I said the other day.
That's just dreaming (smiling).

Q. We all know that you promote your serving during the US Open and that helps you win the Grand Slam title. Your serve is not as powerful as before. Is there something wrong with your serving? You didn't take training today. Can you explain something about this?
RAFAEL NADAL: I practiced today in the indoor courts.

Q. This afternoon.
RAFAEL NADAL: I practiced this afternoon in the indoor courts. This is an indoor tournament, so I practiced indoor.
Yeah, the serve, I am very happy about my serve. I serve a little bit better. He was returning really well. I feel the arm a little bit more tired than before. I not usually serve that fast in the past. So I serve very well during all the US Open. During Bangkok and Tokyo, I still serving very, very fast and very well.
But for me is a new thing for me, so I need more time to adapt this new serve, serving that faster, to try to serve like this. I serve like this a lot of weeks in a row. I feel a little bit more tired, the arm, than usual when I serve with this new power, no? So probably for that reason the serve didn't work that well today.

End of FastScripts

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