Retiring from two Majors over one year is tough, says Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal was proud and at the same time sad about his 2018 season. The Spaniard suffered a lot of physical issues but he was still successful during the time when he was healthy. 'In terms of tennis it was an amazing year', said Nadal in Abu Dhabi. 'Seven full events and winning five is great. In terms of just tennis it was great, but having to retire from one semi-final and one quarter-finals at a grand slam that is tough. That is tough mentally that is something that isn't easy to accept. I won a grand slam and reached two grand slam finals. You also win three Masters 1000s so you can't say this is not a good year, it is a great year.'
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic praised Kevin Anderson ahead of their clash on Saturday: 'Kevin is a very powerful player. He is a tall guy and he hits the ball very fast. My goal is always to try and weather the storm. I cannot hit stronger then he does, especially on the serve, but I can tactically do some things to outsmart him. He is playing really well. He beat Nadal today and I thought it was a nice match. I watched it.'
Djokovic also warned this is just the beginning of the season and players are not at 100% yet: 'We are still kind of engaging our engines a little bit so it will be interesting to see how it pans out.'
ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2F1CHTx
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