Rafael Nadal reveals essential changes that will extend his career
The world no. 2 and 2009 Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal is through to his sixth semi-final at Melbourne Park, beating Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 47 minutes to stay on the title course. After he struggled big time on hard courts in 2018, retiring at both the Australian Open and the US Open, missing a lot of tournaments between that as well, the Spaniard had decided to make big changes in his serve and tactic, embracing new service motion and hitting more valiantly with his first groundstroke than ever before.
Despite finishing the last season as the second-best player in the world, Rafa knew he has to find the way to excel his game on the hard court and make himself competitive for the big titles and play injury-free again. He skipped all the action between September and January but spent working on significant improvements that he has successfully demonstrated so far in Melbourne in the first five matches. Rafa is yet to lose a single set and he stayed away from wasting a lot of time on the court, saving energy for the last two tests that stand between him and the second Australian Open title.
After the match against Tiafoe, Nadal said he is delighted with the way he has played in Melbourne so far, attacking with both serve and forehand to gain the advantage on the court and keep the points on his racquet which always the case in the past.
"It is very emotional for me to back in the semi-final here in Melbourne, I had some troubles at this event throughout my career. After a while without being on the court, this result means everything to me and I just want to thank the crowd, it is always special to play on this court at Rod Laver Arena and I'm very happy with the way I played tonight. The possibilities to play this good after such a long break were not that high and I feel lucky to be where I am at the moment after everything that I went through. To be able to compete at this level, that's why I wake up every morning, going to the court or the gym with a goal to be a better player.
The young generation doesn't want to wait for big wins or titles, they are here now with Frances reaching the quarters and Stefanos waiting in the semis. It will be a great year in terms of sharing the generations that make the sport special and that would be interesting to watch. Over the last 12 months, Stefanos Tsitsipas has constantly been improving his game, winning the first ATP title and playing in other ATP 500 and Masters 1000 finals, he is in the semi-final now and well-capable of beating the best players in the world. He is a great player and will be among the best in the world for a long period.
During the off-season, I worked on my serve and the first shot and here in Melbourne I have been able to hit many winners with my forehand right after the serve, that's something that is very important for me. If I want to extend my career for a few more years, I will have to find a lot of free points and I will certainly keep working on that in the future as well, it is a crucial element for me at this stage of my career. I enjoy my new serve and hitting that first forehand too, I used it before to prepare the point but it is more efficient now.
I feel fortunate about all the people that I have around me throughout my career, my uncle is probably the most important person of my career but he decided to stop a year and a half ago. Carlos Moya joined my team and he has formed a great combination with Francisco, he gives me the other view of the game, it was important to change some things with him on the board. We are very organized and we have good preparations for the matches, in general we are great team working together and that means everything to me. I have always believed in long-time projects and now having almost the same team for 20 years means everything for me."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Rd2gmf
No comments