Rafa Nadal's rhythm got broken before AO final against Djokovic: Cheskonov
The former Russian player and current coach Andrey Chesnokov believes that having had two days off in a row between the semifinals and final at last month's Australian Open affected Rafael Nadal's routines ahead of the match against Novak Djokovic, who prevailed in straight sets. Before the match many thought that two days of rest would benefit Nadal.
In an interview to Sport24, Chesnokov cited Nadal as an example in commenting about the new format of the Davis Cup. "We got used to it. When it takes place four times a year, players do not compete because they do not want to get tired. I will be interested to see the new format featuring just one week. The previous format is obviously a tradition. But I would change them. For example, the Wimbledon traditions are silly ones. Not playing at Wimbledon on the Middle Sunday is stupid. Take any player. He played a match on Friday and he should play the following one on Sunday. But since this is a day off, he will not play. And on Monday the weather is a bad one, it rains all day and so a player takes a rest on Saturday, Sunday, Monday. When in a Grand Slam tournament you play every two days, you get used to that rhythm. But like this you do not have it anymore. At the 2019 Australian Open, Nadal played the semifinals on Thursday and the final on Sunday. And we say, "Oh, he played bad. And all this because the rhythm got broken." So I would like to see what Davis Cup will be like."
On the Djokovic-Nadal final, the former world No. 5 Anne Chakvetadze tweeted: "Guys, congratulations for your Australian Open runs! The final was not balanced and I felt sad for it. We expected a real battle."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2DInVOe
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