Rafael Nadal was barely moving against Khachanov, says pundit
The former world No. 25 singles player Filippo Volandri commented on Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from the Indian Wells semifinals match against Roger Federer. The Italian said: "His injury against Khachanov looked very bad and Rafa was barely moving. Although the last two games and the tie-breaks had left some hopes. But he usually warms up for 40 or 50 minutes prior to a match, while this time he did 20-25 minutes and he knows his body, so he wants to play only if he is at 100 per cent. He doesn't want to take risks. He has been dealing with a knee injury for 15 years, I know what it means and on hard it's even worse. Unfortunately, we missed him."
Dominic Thiem instead reached the final and played Federer. The Austrian feels proud about his results outside clay: "It's not my call to be known as a multi-surface player, but it's nice for me and also for my confidence to have really good results also on the other surfaces. But it worked out pretty well. I have my grass court title. I have already two titles, one indoor and one outdoor on hard court. I like that surface. I like to play on it. Now I'm in the finals here. But one thing would never change that clay is my home. It's my favourite surface. I grew up on it. I just feel great whenever I come back at it. But that doesn't mean that I'm not a good all-arounder or not a good player on different surfaces."
On what his feelings were before Indian Wells, Thiem said: "I arrived not in a good shape, neither physically nor tennis-wise, nothing. I didn't know what's gonna happen in this tournament. But I'm proud of myself because I gave myself the chance. I just said to myself, I'm going to start my season here. I'm going to do a great preparation here. And of course it's luck and it's amazing that it pays off immediately. But also, if it wouldn't have paid off straight away with the final here, then I still would be well-prepared for Miami, I think. And this was the main goal. But it's amazing that I came this far, and hopefully, it's not the end."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2TPTTCz
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