Rafael Nadal is enjoying himself on court. The red clay is back under his feet, and the familiarity with the surface is letting him flourish in every way possible. Riding on his tenth Monte Carlo masters title, Nadal looks all the more relaxed and his pumped for his La Decima at Barcelona.
Alexander Zverev has been touted to be the next big thing in men’s tennis but hasn’t quite set the ball rolling this clay season, running out of ideas against Nadal in Monte Carlo and then losing in two rather dire sets against Hyeon Chung.
Post his Monte Carlo loss Zverev had said that he wanted to play Barcelona just so that he could get another shot at Nadal. But with his shock loss, he wasn’t able to fulfil his sole ambition of playing Barcelona. Maybe he got a little too ahead of himself before he took on Chung.
Also Read: 5 interesting facts about Alexander Zverev
When asked about Zverev’s comments about him, Nadal came up with a very direct and upfront answer, saying that it was strange of Zverev to channel all his energy towards him(Nadal). A player should be focussing on himself rather than the opponent and tournaments should be played to improve rather than to play a specific person.
“Zverev can be at the highest level and aim to the most important things of the sport’, said Nadal. ‘Then you have to show it om court and be humble to work. I know he likes tennis, but I don’t know him enough to know his humility. If you have it, it’s easier. Otherwise I think he will make it because he has the qualities. There are many ways to be at the top. If you have feet on the ground you are happier and the street is less complicated. It’s strange that he says that he comes to an event to play against someone. I play certain events because I think it’s better for my calendar or to improve”. said Nadal,
Speaking about the win over Anderson, Nadal said that it was tough battling it out with the weather and with Anderson’s serve, but he was glad that he overcame the challenge the way he did.
“It was a good match because when it rains you never know if you play. Forecast was bad, so I am happy with the way I played. Conditions were not so good and the opponent was very difficult.”
Zverev is probably one of the most talented players on circuit right now and while he must have made that statement in passing, Nadal just wanted to give him some advice with regards to how he should approach tournaments.
