Rafael Nadal would have liked to play more matches this year - Navratilova
Speaking on the Tennis Channel, the 18-time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova commented on Rafael Nadal's season. The Spaniard is playing just his third tournament this year, after the Australian Open and the Mexican Open in Acapulco. In Acapulco, he defeated Mischa Zverev in the first round and lost to Nick Kyrgios in the second round. "He would definitely like to have more matches than he has had. He has got to the Australian Open final having had no matches leading up to it for last four months, but he has still played well enough to get there but then you think he is gonna turn it up now and he has entirely lost against Kyrgios, he must wonder why," said Navratilova before Nadal's win over Jared Donaldson on Sunday.
Chanda Rubin added: "He is hopefully physically ok. That's been the big question for Rafa now and at this stage of his career, he is about working out his schedule so that physically he can be as close to 100 percent as possible. It's a challenge especially on hard courts, that's the big struggle for Rafa. This is the question with Rafa if he can stay healthy throughout the tournament and that's what a big three weeks coming up for him back to back on hard courts."
Jon Wertheim concluded: "He only got two matches in Acapulco and he directly came up there so a lot of time in the desert. I am told physically he is fine but I wished he has had more matches at the Australian Open for six rounds and then the dispiriting final."
Nadal reached the fourth round in Indian Wells after defeating Diego Schwartzman in the third round on Tuesday.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2HwTuyf
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