Annoyed, Rafael Nadal parades down the hallway of the Sydney dressing room while his physiotherapist Rafael Maymò and the coach who advises him these days, Marc López, remain silent. In the two games he has played at the start of this new season, there have been two losses; On Saturday he was surpassed on his United Cup debut by Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who had failed to get the better of him in the previous four, and this time it’s Alex de Miñaur – unrewarded in the previous three meetings – who does it manages to get a slice of the Mallorcan’s lack of rhythm, who is stung less by the defeat (3-6, 6-1 and 7-5, after 2h 42m) and more by letting several moves pass He usually takes and especially that ugly ending where he gave up two consecutive games in white and 10 points in a row.
Simplifying what the email of the first two commitments says, it can be interpreted that the 22-major champion’s situation is worrying given the true goal of the present, which is none other than the Australian Open beginning on 16th; If, on the other hand, the analysis is extensive and includes the speech of the protagonist, the Spaniard follows the logical path of a person who has hardly been able to keep up or only in a rush to keep up in the last six months. Since July, Nadal has played 11 games here and recovered from two abdominal tears, so his primary wish is to rack up mileage because then, he says, he will offer the usual reliability. The problem, as always, is time. In exactly two weeks, no essay is worth more. The real fire is coming.
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“Well, it’s almost six hours on the track [entre estos dos partidos preparatorios] and I need battles like this. Days like this help, although of course the process is quicker with wins. I have to keep fighting,” the world no The Spaniard still has a few steps to climb to reach the level needed for Melbourne, where he stunned everyone with that late goal against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev just under a year ago.
Actually, the process this Monday is relatively similar to the two days before against Norrie. The Spaniard’s start is promising but then he gives way as the situation worsens and they end up going backwards. The backhand cut and drive directions promise promise from the start, but when the decisive moments of the second and third sets arrive, he doesn’t hit the mark. “I started with a break [en el segundo] and I had almost every game to win 5-1 or even 6-1, and ended up losing six games in a row. That can’t happen,” he reconstructs; “Later on I had more chances, but I also made mistakes. That’s it, I have to keep fighting and find a rhythm. I have two weeks and I can’t say that the situation is ideal, but at the same time I can’t say that it’s very negative either.
“I don’t feel like it’s that far”
Nadal estimates that those first two games add more than they subtract, and that the level “wasn’t that bad” and he’s “too alarmed”. Rewind that of Manacor (36 years old) and remember what happened less than a year ago in Australia, where he arrived in a very precarious state and where he signed one of his most spectacular and emotional victories. As before, he left a few slips in Abu Dhabi in the preparatory phase. “But you never know what can happen,” he reveals. “Because at the time it seemed impossible to imagine what happened next,” he attacks. “I had my chances against two great players [Norrie es el 14º de la ATP y de Miñaur el 24º], but I couldn’t convert them. That tells me I have a lot of room for improvement and I really believe I can do it,” he continues.
De Minaur, during the match against Nadal DAVID GRAY (AFP)
His immediate plan is to travel to Melbourne, home of the Open, as soon as possible and continue to lubricate himself with optimism. In the event that he does not change the planned roadmap – the Kooyong Classic exhibition of the 10th without giving up a place in the ranking; Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas are lurking there with 50 and 215 points, respectively, and thus the mathematical option of taking second place from him. Nadal hopes to preserve this privileged situation – always transcendental in the face of the crosses that the tie could bring – and he prefers to see the glass half full despite the stalled start this year in 2023.
“Physically, I’m fine, I can’t complain. I have to be more dynamic and read the ball better because that gives confidence, but I feel good and that helps a lot to keep going,” he specifies. “I think the situation is the way it is and I need to improve; But really, I think that will happen. If? I don’t know but I hope it’s soon because I feel like it’s not that far away,” notes Nadal, from one loss to the next. At the moment at odds with victory. Once again in the race to be on time for the appointment.
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