mobile app bar

Rafa Nadal not amused with French Open court after Simone Bolleli match

Utkarsh Bhatla
Published

Rafa Nadal got off to an iffy start at the French Open yesterday, struggling to find his rhythm against the spirited Bolleli who was playing with a lot of intent on court.

Nadal though managed to scrape through, winning in straight sets, before being pushed into a corner during that 3rd set tie-break.

However, just as ever, Nadal found a way out, played the important points better and marched on to the 2nd round.

After winning the first two sets, Nadal found himself in a quandary as he was 3-0 down when the rain came down.

Nadal though dug deep and found a way to come out of the hole, ultimately winning the 3rd set in a tie-break(11-9).

The Spaniard was not happy with the Philippe Chatrier Court after the win, as he deemed it a bit too slippery.

He emphasised on the fact that he wasn’t coming up with excuses but giving pretty valid points about how and why the court was slippery.

“The court is more slippery than usual and I slid a lot when I started off or when I moved to another side, and it was quite complicated,” said the Spaniard.

“There are no excuses. This is what I felt. If you look at the images on television, you can see that there are many more whiter zones than other years, because there are little pebbles underneath, and that’s why you don’t have the proper grip on the court.” he added.

Nadal is not getting too ahead of himself at this stage, and is focussed on one match at a time.

He next faces Guido Pella on Thursday and would be hoping to adapt to the court a little better this time round.

“If you get complacent or too confident with yourself, for sure you won’t be happy,” said

“I was able to do all these results because I respect the sport, I respect every opponent, and I respect the competition every day.

“That’s the reason I have success, is because I go every day on court knowing that I can win, that I can lose, and that’s the sport. So anything can happen.” he concluded.

About the author

Share this article