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Tag: Rod Laver Arena

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.

Nadal Destroys Kachanov to Reach Round of 16

Posted on by Chirag

The 20 time grand slam winner looks ready to fight for another grand slam title and show the young and new era of ATP that the likes of Djokovic and himself aren’t done yet.

The Spaniard met Karen Kachanov in the round 3 encounter yesterday evening with a strong Head to Head record against the Russian. However since the past few matches between the two it has been difficult for Nadal to beat the youngster.

But this time, it wasn’t that hard for Nadal. Rafa took the first and second set at 6-3,6-2 and then surprisingly lost a set to the Russian as he tried new service return positions behind the baseline.

The Russian took the second set in quite convincing fashion at 3-6. But, just when it looked like Kachanov could pull a rabbit out of his hat and get this to an elusive 5th set tie breaker, Nadal stopped testing and went beast mode.

The Spaniard quickly pulled into the right gear and looked like the Rafa of old as he brought out his running down the line backhand and then his famous arm pump celebration.

With Nadal in the Round of 16, he will now face the frenchman Adrian Mannarino tomorrow at the Rod Laver Arena. Alexander Zverev also qualified for the Round of 16 by beating Albot 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

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.