Rafael Nadal’s good run making ready for the French Open has immediately hit a pace bump.
Nadal’s quarterfinal loss to Alexander Zverev on the Madrid Open on Friday got here as an surprising setback in per week during which the king of clay mentioned he was feeling good about his sport.
“Negative feelings because this was an important week for me,” Nadal mentioned.
“I had been progressing, but sometimes when you are going up the stairs you may take a step backward, and that’s what happened today.”
Nadal misplaced to No 6-ranked Zverev 6-4 6-4 after comfy wins in opposition to up-and-comers Carlos Alcaraz and Alexei Popyrin.
🗣️ “To beat Rafa on a clay court in Spain, you have to play your best”
🎥 @TennisTV @AlexZverev | #MMOPEN
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 7, 2021
“The entire week I did things well, both in training and in the matches,” Nadal mentioned.
“Today again, but when it counted, in the decisive moments, I did everything wrong.”
Nadal has been attempting to regain his greatest kind after not enjoying a lot due to the coronavirus pandemic. He obtained off to a gradual begin on clay by his requirements, being eradicated by Andrey Rublev within the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo then gained the Barcelona Open after dropping a number of units by that week. At the beginning of the 12 months on the Australian Open, he misplaced within the quarterfinals.
He will try and win a tenth Italian Open subsequent week to finish his buildup for a 14th French Open trophy.
He mentioned he was pissed off on Friday as a result of he felt like he performed higher than Zverev at occasions however couldn’t benefit from his possibilities. He felt like he let the quarterfinal slip away by making “too many unjustified mistakes.”
Rafael Nadal speaks to the press after his surprising straight-set loss to Zverev within the quarterfinals.#MMOpen pic.twitter.com/r3t0VhCtcA
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) May 7, 2021
“It was a different match than the one against Rublev (in Monte Carlo), when the conditions favored me. Here there was a sensation that I was not in control of things, so when you lose it feels like things are worse than they really are.”
Nadal mentioned he doesn’t benefit from the quicker tempo in Madrid, prompted by the excessive altitude within the Spanish capital, although he’s gained the event 5 occasions.
Nadal nonetheless tried to look on the brilliant aspect.
“It was a week with many positive things. I did a lot of things well in training,” he mentioned.
“I leave Madrid with good sensations in general, but with a bad sensation of having played a match like today.”
