Roger Federer shares what he told Rafael Nadal via text message
Roger Federer had an exchange of text messages with Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells when the Spaniard decided to withdraw from their semifinals match. The Swiss player said: "It's like you have played, but you didn't, so physically you feel better, you know. And you have, you know, over 24 hours to get ready. So there is nothing really extraordinary happening from now on forward after I have done the press. But it's just that the last, I'd say, two, three hours have been very different to a normal match day where I have warmed up, ready to go, and then all of a sudden getting a message from Rafa saying, I won't be able to play. I haven't told anybody yet. And you're like, Okay. Then you wonder, Do I have to do press? Is there anything else I need to do? And you wonder how you can help out the tournament in a situation like this where fans have paid a lot of money for a ticket. So instead of worrying about forehands and backhands, you're worried about the health of the tournament, and also what is best for me personally, individually, for the finals tomorrow. But I think from now on things will calm down because I can actually also speak about who I play now because up till now I have been watching a bit of the Raonic/Thiem match. And I told him, Rafa, I hope it's nothing serious. So I hope he'll be back strong for the clay."
"I saw what had happened, so I knew there was going to be a chance that maybe he won't be 100%. But as a player, you always go in with the mindset he is at 100%, you know. We know overnight things can change sometimes. When I went to warm up, he was warming up, too, on the outside court. So I knew about that, so my mindset in the practice was not one, well, maybe he's not going to play. It's he's playing and I'm playing and this is happening. It's only when I got back that I found out that he won't be playing. That also disrupts things a little bit, you know. Yeah, I mean, I saw what happened and how he was battling with his knee. You know, so I knew that knowing Rafa that the season is still long and there is clay coming up."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2I1yNKP
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