Nadal: "I was lame, it was my day on my foot, a chronic and incurable injury"

Rafael Nadal Assuming “realistic” the situation where he found himself after spending six weeks without competing due to a rib fracture he suffered at Indian Wells and seeing his process of fine-tuning in every game he played in Madrid Masters 1000, including those who encounter youth Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

The public in Madrid is looking forward to the confrontation between the best players of all time and the great manifestation of the circuit and future of Spanish tennis. However, Nadal does not consider the two to have rivalry because they are of different generations. One is on the last stretch. Another begins.

“It’s going to be a very difficult game. He (Alcaraz) is better than me now and in a very good dynamics and I know what’s going on. I’m realistic even if I try. But now he’s better than that I. He has that energy of the moment. And in that sense he starts with an advantage although I will do everything I can to win. What matters to me is not who is better on Friday but in three weeks (Roland Garros) and that is my goal“, he assumed.

“That’s my reality. These are special tournaments … Madrid, Rome … but my reality is very different now and I have to do it. It’s not to remove any pressure on me. But I think that even he is the Young Man, in this particular fight I don’t feel that and each one comes in different lines and I approach the fight with enthusiasm and enough determination and above all it serves me. I want to try to win but I am aware of the moment in which I am Nadal insisted.

Rafael Nadal denied that the fights with Alcaraz were supposed to be a generational duel. He is 35 years old and Murcian is only 19 years old.

“I see it naturally. It was a generational change and that has happened throughout history and thank God someone like him came. And as a fan of sports and a Spaniard, it is lucky that a player like him came, with that strength and he will surely give us joy in the next ten or twelve years “, said the five -time champion in Madrid. .

“If I was ten years younger, you could talk about rivalry, but I was (almost) 36. I no longer live in this kind of rivalry. My rivals were Djokovic, Federer, Murray in his time. I consider it as another rival competing for important tournaments and logically good people are coming. The time left to play will bother me at the tennis level and then I will enjoy him as a fan, ”he said.

Nadal suffered against Belgian David Goffin. They saved four match points but eventually, after more than three hours, took the lead and reached the quarter-finals.

“For it has been very nice, in front of the people. This is good in the long term because I have played hours and because it is going well for me, but you have to see how I wake up tomorrow after almost two months na no.I am preparing myself and you have to assume that anything can happen We know how we got there.I played better on Wednesday than this time and when you are in that situation, you know there is better and worse “those days and there’s no continuity. But this time I’ve managed to win,” he said.

The Spanish tennis player came to the press room looking limp. This was due to the chronic injury he had to his left foot. “My foot always hurts. It’s part of my daily life and more so when I’m playing a long game. I have a chronic and incurable injury and that’s the downside of not having finished the game earlier. In the medium term it’s good to play for a very long time and now, but on Friday I’ll get into more trouble than I should have because of my foot, ”he warned.

Public support will be decisive for Nadal. “I always appreciate it because playing here is a weird feeling. Ten thousand or twelve thousand followers have a definite impact on the final result because they give the necessary push for final success. I don’t let them fail the test, sometimes the tennis level fails me but at the level of trying, I don’t fail them to return everything they give me, “he said.

“Ultimately you suffer. You have to learn to live and enjoy this suffering. At this point in my career, I really appreciate playing in front of my people and the fight is on the wire. I enjoy the people and the support. It’s a gift at this age to keep competing. I’m happy to live an afternoon like today. You never know in the end. I’m confident I’ll recover and be at an adequate level on Friday, “Nadal commented.