Rafa Nadal: “He’s been a much better player” | ATP Tour

Paris Olympics

Nadal: “He has been a much better player”

The Spaniard will play doubles on Tuesday with Carlos Alcaraz

July 29, 2024

Still wearing the Spanish jersey after losing to Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Rafael Nadal had time to reflect on the encounter with one of the greatest rivals of his career before heading to the Olympic Village, headquarters of all the athletes during the competition.

“He’s been a much better player,” Nadal told ‘Onda Cero’ about Djokovic, who now leads the Lexus ATP Head2Head by 31-29. “For an hour it was hard to digest everything that was happening, with a huge physical and mental strain. I suffered because the match was going blatantly badly for me. I didn’t have a bad attitude or any bad gestures, no moment of weakness. He was better than me in every aspect and he didn’t give me anything,” continued the Spaniard.

“From then on, I don’t have the same legs I had 15 years ago,” Nadal recalled. “Without ball quality and the legs I had 15 years ago, you’re not going to create problems for the best player in history. It’s easy to analyse: I wasn’t at my level, he was, and the reaction wasn’t complete. It’s costing me a lot. I’m training much better than I’m capable of competing.”

Djokovic led 6-1, 4-0, but Nadal was able to win four straight games in the second set to make it 4-4, giving himself a chance to enter the match with the No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

“The problem is that I was coming from too far behind. The dynamic has changed because I managed to win four games in a row and I had some chances. Maybe so many things have happened to my body in recent times that I have lost confidence and the rhythm of the game in general. I just have to accept it and go all out for the doubles.”

Tomorrow, Nadal will team up with Carlos Alcaraz to play the second round of the doubles draw against the pair formed by Wesley Koolhof and Tallon Griekspoor, keeping alive the dream of winning an Olympic medal.

“It’s a tough defeat, but I don’t need to change my mindset,” Nadal warned. “I came here to play two competitions, and I knew from the beginning that I probably had more options in doubles,” continued the 22-time Grand Slam champion. “Today I’m sad, but tomorrow I’m going to wake up with all the enthusiasm in the world to play doubles to the fullest.”