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DPA
Paris
King of clay Rafael Nadal took a brief break after his Rome title on Sunday and is now ready to seek a record-extending 12th French Open title.
“Well, I have been at home, one day of golf, one day of family,” he told reporters on Friday at the Roland Garros tennis centre, adding he has had two “good” practice sessions at the compound.
Nadal has an incredible 86-2 record at the Paris grand slam which he opens against German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann on Monday or Tuesday.
His only defeats came in 2009 in the last 16 against Swede Robin Soderling and in 2015 against Serb Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. In 2016, he withdrew injured ahead of his third-round match.
Every other edition from his 2005 debut onwards he has won. It may have taken until Sunday in Rome – against world number one Novak Djokovic – for Nadal to lift a first 2019 trophy in general and on his favourite surface, but semi-final berths in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid still confirm that he is the man to beat.
“I feel myself playing well, and my goal is just to keep playing at that level,” he said, adding that he plans to improve by “just working on small things.”
“In general terms, it is just about being healthy, the main thing, and then just compete well and be fresh mentally and physically.”
Paris
King of clay Rafael Nadal took a brief break after his Rome title on Sunday and is now ready to seek a record-extending 12th French Open title.
“Well, I have been at home, one day of golf, one day of family,” he told reporters on Friday at the Roland Garros tennis centre, adding he has had two “good” practice sessions at the compound.
Nadal has an incredible 86-2 record at the Paris grand slam which he opens against German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann on Monday or Tuesday.
His only defeats came in 2009 in the last 16 against Swede Robin Soderling and in 2015 against Serb Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. In 2016, he withdrew injured ahead of his third-round match.
Every other edition from his 2005 debut onwards he has won. It may have taken until Sunday in Rome – against world number one Novak Djokovic – for Nadal to lift a first 2019 trophy in general and on his favourite surface, but semi-final berths in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid still confirm that he is the man to beat.
“I feel myself playing well, and my goal is just to keep playing at that level,” he said, adding that he plans to improve by “just working on small things.”
“In general terms, it is just about being healthy, the main thing, and then just compete well and be fresh mentally and physically.”
