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Tag: Rafael Nadal

Mats Wilander on Why Medvedev Lost to Nadal Twice in a Month

Posted on by Chirag

Former tennis star and current legend, Mats Wilander has given his opinion as to why Rafael Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev two straight times within the span of 30 days. The current World no. 1, Medvedev and current World no. 4, Rafael Nadal met twice on a major stage, first in the Australian Open finals, which saw Nadal pull a rabbit out of his hat as he bounced back from an almost impossible 2 set deficit to win the thrilling five setter and his 21st Grand Slam.

The second time the Russian and the Spaniard met was over in Mexico in the semi finals of the Acapulco Open. The two are scheduled to be at the Indian Wells as well which starts on the 8th of March in California. 

“I think that you can be No.

1 in different ways. I feel like Daniil Medvedev deserves to be there, but to really go out and be looked upon as the best player in the world every day, he most probably needs to win a couple more Grand Slams while he is No.

1 in the world,” Wilander told Eurosport. “But that’s how the ranking works. That’s how the computer works and if you play a lot of tournaments and you’re consistent, you deserve to be there,” he added.

“But it must never be confused with being the best player in the world today and being the best player consistently over the last 12 months. There’s a huge difference between the two.” The Swede went on to claim that the Russian “has some distance to go” before he can be compared to the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic when they were No.

1. “[Daniil Medvedev lost] to Rafael Nadal in Acapulco in very humid conditions – the tennis balls are not flying through the air as quickly as they do in Australia and when they do hit the court, they stop skidding through the court because the surface was very slow,” Wilander said.

“So in Acapulco, I can easily explain why Medvedev lost because of the conditions.”

Roger Federer’s Recover Going Slower Than Expected

Posted on by Chirag

The legendary Roger Federer left the 2021 season abruptly with multiple minor injuries and one massive injury to deal with. The Swiss star got surgeries done on his knee in late 2021 and has been recovering since then in order to be back on the court for at least one last time before he calls it a day.

His former tour mate, friend and tennis rival Rafael Nadal after overtaking both Federer and Djokovic in the race for the most grand slams talked about Federer’s recovery and how touched he was when Federer congratulated him through social media.

“I’m gonna tell Roger Federer in private, no? I wasn’t able yet to answer but yeah it means a lot to me, no? We have an amazing relationship. We did amazing things together, for me it’s a huge honor to be part of his era,” the World No.

“Together I think we lived amazing moments of the history of our sport. And you know, receiving this message from him means a lot to me, no?” The Spaniard then extended his best wishes to Federer, who is himself battling a serious knee injury at the moment.

“I wish him well, he knows, I really hope we will be able to play again in important stages.” Towards the end of the interview, Rafael Nadal insisted that he was uncertain about whether he could win the title prior to arriving in Melbourne.

“I never thought I’m gonna have a chance again to enjoy like this… have been impossible to imagine a day like this a few years ago, so. I think I worked hard, all my team and family were next to me supporting me during these hard times.

I was not ready for a match like this, at all. Was a big surprise, the most unexpected of my tennis career. But yeah, very very special,” 

Meanwhile Federer gave an update to Credit Suisse regarding his recovery saying, “I have very interesting and important few months ahead of me. I feel like I will know a whole lot more this coming April where my body is going to be like. Up until now I wasn’t really allowed to run yet, doing the heavy workload with jumps and stop-and-go’s. So, I hope that’s all going to start, hopefully in a couple of weeks, and then we will see how the body will react to that.”

“The drive is there, I’m really motivated to do my work and what I’m allowed to do,” Federer continued. “I did it all again this morning and I’m back in the gym tomorrow.

“It’s still good times even though it’s a little bit slow because I would love to do way more, but the doctors and everybody is holding me back a little bit.”

Toni Nadal talks About Rafa’s Mindset as Medvedev Turns His Back on the Crowd

Posted on by Chirag

On Sunday in the Rod Laver Arena, Rafael Nadal shook the world with his insane comeback after being 2 sets down to the world no. 2 Daniil Medvedev. 

The match featured Nadal in a tremendous form that got the crowd chanting for him and booing Medvedev. This played a vital role in Medvedev’s head as he was continuously booed throughout the match. Medvedev post his match even talked about this saying, “From now on, I play for myself, for my family…for all Russians, because I feel a lot of support there,” he said. “I will say this: if there is a tournament in Moscow before Roland Garros or Wimbledon, I will go there even if I miss Wimbledon or Roland Garros or something else.”

“The kid stopped dreaming. The kid is going to play for himself.”

Medvedev was also being booed during and after his second round match against crowd favourite Nick Kyrgios and made it a point to tell the crowd how disrespectful they were being. 

On the other side, Nadal said he understood the frustration but Medvedev will understand the role you have to let the crowd play in your head as he advances in his career. 

“Nowadays, people tend to surrender to frustration and complain too much. Rafa, though, being down 2 sets to zero had no bad face, nothing. He knew, all the time, how to overcome difficulty, which I think is the most outstanding thing from yesterday’s match,” said Toni Nadal, Rafael’s father.

Rafael Nadal Hasn’t Even Hit Top Gear Yet

Posted on by cbtfhome

The 20 time grand slam winner looks like he’s on his way to winning his 21st grand slam title or at least put up a huge fight to become the first ever person in history to get to 21 grand slam championships in history.

With Djokovic out of the picture for this years’ Australian Open, it was understood Nadal will need to just go through the motions and try harder to get to another title as it might be his last chance to get to one.

So far in this year’s Australian Open, Nadal has shown only dominance winning 2 straight matches with 6 straight sets and currently warming up for his Round 3 match scheduled for today at 2:45 PM IST emanating from the Rod Laver Arena against Kachanov.

Although the fans might be gearing up for a Zverev and Nadal semi final and possibly a Nadal vs Tsitsipas finals match, the Spaniard is not looking at the bigger picture currently but instead taking it match by match in the Australian sub continent.

“Well, the positive thing is I achieved much more than I ever dreamed. I was able to spend almost 20 fantastic years on the tour. The rest of the things nothing positive because arrives in the end,” Nadal said. “When you get older, the watch never stops, no (smiling)? That’s the circus of life.”

“You need to accept that. But it’s all good with me with that. I don’t know. I am in the third round. I need to win very tough matches to be there. Is not in my mind now. I have enough work I don’t like,” the Spaniard said.

“I think playing against Khachanov now, probably Khachanov, going to be a big challenge. Always is a big challenge against Karen. In my situation today going to be even more. I never think that far. You can imagine now less than ever, no? Just staying focused on my daily work, on what’s coming, and that’s it. One moment in time, that’s it,” he added.

Australian Open Starts to Sizzle Up as Zverev Reach Round 3

Posted on by Chirag

The Australian Open has been great this year with some of the best tennis we’ve seen in some time now. 

The likes of Rafael Nadal have already qualified for the third round and await their next match set for tomorrow. Another important player in his side of the draw is the young German Alexander Zverev. 

Zverev has now also reached the third round and if things keep going the same way, Nadal could end up facing Zverev in the Semi-Finals as the two fight for the finals spot against either Medvedev or Tsitsipas.

On the other side of the  draw, Tsitsipas won his second round match against Baez, the Argentinian with 3 sets to 1 earlier today. Medvedev however will have a tougher opponent in hometown hero Nick Kyrgios.

The Russian and Australian are supposed to meet on court at 1:30 PM IST today to see who will go on to the fourth round. With only 7 spots left in the Round 3 and 25 players already in, we wait to see who will make it to tomorrow’s Round 3 kick off as the herd thins down to 32 players.

Rafael Nadal Slides Through Australian Open Kick-Off

Posted on by cbtfhome

The 20 time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal started his Australian Open campaign this morning as he faced off against Marcos Giron the young American.

Giron, who had a similar style to Maxime, a fellow USA player who Nadal faced at the Melbourne Summer Set finals to win his first Melbourne championship. As expected, Nadal breezed past Giron in this opener in straight sets.

This is the first time Rafa has played a best of 5 since last year’s French Open where he unfortunately lost in the semi finals to fellow 20 time grand slam winner Novak Djokovic as he struggled with his knee and ankle issues again. 

Rafa displayed his amazing collection of beautiful shots as he completely ruled the court at the Rod Laver Arena against the young American. 

He started off calmly with a 2 games to 1 lead in the first set and then pulled out a no-look running lob to get his 3rd game. Since that moment it was all Rafael Nadal as he destroyed Giron with incredibly powerful forehands and absolutely genius backhands. 

Giron did manage to get in a few shots in the second set which prompted even Rafael Nadal to applaud the efforts. However, the former World No.1 proved too much for the World No. 66.

Nadal won the match 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 in his purple shirts and green bandana as he moved on to face the winner of the Hanfmann vs Kokkinakis on Wednesday morning. 

Over in the women’s side, Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka were both in action as they teed off against their own respective opponents and won in straight sets quite comfortably.