2013/05/20

Nadal Wins His First Title Since Return From Injury

Rafael Nadal photo by Wagner Carmo/Inovafoto

Rafael Nadal photo by Wagner Carmo/Inovafoto

By Barbara Galiza

(February 17, 2013) São Paulo – Today marked an important day for Rafael Nadal. At São Paulo, the former number one took his first title since returning to the tour – after a seven-month injury-lay off. The Spaniard beat David Nalbandian in the final, 6-2, 6-3. This is the first trophy won by Nadal since Roland Garros, in June. Despite the win, Nadal, who looked rusty throughout the week, hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll play Indian Wells and Miami.

 

“My priority is celebrating today’s title, that was very important for me. I’ll think of Acapulco and nothing else”, said Nadal. The fifth player in the rankings returned to the court last week, at Viña Del Mar, and will play ATP 500 Acapulco next, starting on the 25th March.

 

“We are not in a position to think about the week ahead. We go day by day, week by week. We’ll see how the knee is responding in Acapulco and when we finish this clay season, we’ll see how things have passed in these three tournaments and decide if we’re prepared to face playing in Indian Wells.”

 

Since his return, Nadal hasn’t yet faced a player inside the top 30. However, the 11-time Slam champion assures he isn’t worried about possible rivals, but about his knee:

 

“It’s not a question about (stronger) rivals, it’s a question about the surface. It’s about the evolution of my knee. I have no problems to play better rivals, because I know I can lose and can win. To me, it’s not a problem to lose after not competing for so long.”

 

Barbara Galiza is a journalist from Rio de Janeiro and was the Brasil Open  as media in São Paulo for Tennis Panorama. She likes tennis and writing. Sometimes she blogs, most of the time she tweets. – @fiercetennis. Follow her São Paulo updates on @TennisNewsTPN.

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Nadal Says São Paulo Clay Courts are Much Faster Than U.S. Open and Australian Open

 

Nadal 2 16 2013 Brasil Open William Lucas Inovafoto

By Barbara Galiza

(February 16, 2013) São Paulo – Before this week, Martin Alund had never won an ATP-tour level match before, but today he managed to take a slow Rafael Nadal to a third set. The former number one took two hours to beat the Argentinean and advance to the São Paulo final. After his win, Nadal complained about the conditions, that are too fast for his taste.

 

“The conditions are not good for me and my game style. I don’t have the feeling of (ball) control or that I can attack. Today, my knee hurt more than it did in the other days”, said Nadal, who recently came back from a seven-month injury lay-off.

 

Since the beginning of the week, the Spaniard has been very critical of the balls used in the indoor clay tournament. After his win over Alund, Nadal said the conditions in São Paulo were too fast to be considered clay:

 

“The surface is here is much faster than any hardcourt. It’s much faster than the U.S. Open, much faster than the Australian Open. It’s a court that can’t be considered clay, that’s the truth. The altitude and specially the balls (make it very fast).” São Paulo’s average sea level height is of 760m.

 

In the final, the world number five will play another Argentinean, David Nalbandian. The two had paired together this week to play the doubles draw, before Nadal pulled out citing “knee overuse”.

 

“I am physically prepared for the match tomorrow, I don’t know if my knee is,” said Nadal, who he will be trying to win his 51st title.

 

Barbara Galiza is a journalist from Rio de Janeiro covering the Brasil Open  as media in São Paulo for Tennis Panorama. She likes tennis and writing. Sometimes she blogs, most of the time she tweets. – @fiercetennis. Follow her São Paulo updates on @TennisNewsTPN.

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Nadal: “The 25-Second Rule Will Harm the Fans”

 

Rafael Nadal photo by Gaspar Nóbrega/Inovafoto

Rafael Nadal photo by Gaspar Nóbrega/Inovafoto

By Barbara Galiza

(February 12, 2013) São Paulo - Returning to Brazil for the first time since 2005, Rafael Nadal will play the ATP 250 São Paulo this week. In his pre-tournament news conference, the world No. 5 commented on the improvements on his health and the new enforcement of the “25 seconds between serves” rule.

 

“People want to see long matches, competitive rallies and amazing shots. For me to play in a high level for four hours, I need more than 25 seconds,” said the Spaniard, famous for taking long between serves. ”I don’t think players are happy with the new rule. The umpire will have to decide when it’s up to follow it or not. Because if it’s something mathematical, it will harm the fans.”

 

Nadal returned to competition last week, in Chile, after being away from tour for seven months because of a knee injury. He was the runner up in Viña Del Mar, losing to the Horacio Zeballos, ranked 73th.

 

“I’m not ready to think about titles, I’m thinking about playing day by day”, he said. “I’m not worried whether this (the injury) is going to be a problem for the future, I’m worried about the time it will take (to be 100%). Last week was a positive result. There are days my knee limits me physically, but there are days it’s better. Every week, I have less bad days.”

 

To Nadal, part of the blame for his injury is the length of the hardcourt season. The surface isn’t ideal to the body.

 

“I find hardcourts the worst for the body. You don’t see footballers playing on hard fields, or any other sports with aggressive moments (being practiced on the same surface). They’re the most harming for articulations, knees, backs.”

 

“I don’t think a change to more clay and grass tournaments will be possible in my generation. The ATP needs to be more careful to prolong their player’s careers. I want to be able to still practice sports after I retire. Tennis careers are very important, but life is more,” said the 26-year-old player.

 

Even though he said to be taking tournaments day by day, the Spaniard admitted that the next Olympic Games is something in his mind:

 

“Being in Rio 2016 is a big goal of mine. I want to be there in condition to compete and also win what could be my last Olympics.”

 

Nadal also reaffirmed his stance on public records of the anti-doping controls held by the ITF. To him, if blood tests and urine tests are kept private, tennis is at risk.

 

“We need to know the person on the other side of the net is in the same condition as you are. Sport needs to be example to kids and an example of hard work. Everyone needs to know how many blood test and urine tests we go through or we will have the same problem as cycling”, he said.

 

Barbara Galiza is a journalist from Rio de Janeiro covering the Brasil Open  as media in São Paulo for Tennis Panorama. She likes tennis and writing. Sometimes she blogs, most of the time she tweets. – @fiercetennis. Follow her São Paulo updates on @TennisNewsTPN.

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