Rafael Nadal: ‘I’ve seen reports in the news media saying that…’
Rafael Nadal has won 13 Roland Garros titles since 2005, suffering only three losses and establishing himself as a dominant figure. Unlike at Roland Garros, Nadal has yet to win an indoor Paris Masters competition, despite reaching eight quarter-finals and competing in the title match at the season’s last Masters 1000 event.
Credits : Tennis World
In 2007, Nadal made his debut in the Paris final, losing to David Nalbandian and never reaching the title match again. Without Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem in the lineup, 2020 may have been the year to turn his fortunes in this tournament.
Rafa was the top seed and reached his seventh Paris Masters semi-final before losing to Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-5. The German won back-to-back wins in Cologne before moving on to Paris, where he performed well to reach a sixth Masters 1000 final.
The return was a significant matter for Rafa that week, and Alexander took full advantage of it, hitting a service winner in 30% of his points and only being broken once to put the pressure on the other side. After producing three serves to take the teenager to the top, that solitary break wasn’t enough for the Spaniard to stay safe.
Nadal stated that he gave it his hardest to control his opponent’s serve and extend rallies, falling deep behind the baseline on the return but failing to win at least a set. Zverev hit 37 winners to 18 unforced errors and kept focused in the second set’s latter moments to finish the deal in style.
With nothing to break through on the return in the first set, Nadal retreated in the second to earn some chances, regaining the break but losing it again at 5-5 to put Zverev ahead. Alexander took the lead with a break in the third game of the first set, which he then clinched with a 3-1 service win after 14 minutes.
Rafa was injured in the abdomen
Rafael Nadal: My Story, his autobiography, explains why he prefers the left hand over the right hand in tennis. “I’ve read claims in the mainstream media claiming Toni pushed me to play left-handed, and that he did this to make me harder to play against,” he claimed.
That is not correct. It’s a tale made up by the media. The fact is that I started playing when I was very young, and because I wasn’t strong enough to hit the ball over the net, I’d hold the racquet with both hands, forehand and backhand.”
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