Rafael Nadal is adamant to perform better in Halle this year – Tennis News
World number two, Rafael Nadal, confessed that he is adamant to make sure that history doesn’t repeat itself in Halle, Germany. He is the top seed player in the Gerry Weber Open and contests his first match on the eve of Thursday
against the likes of the Slovak tennis ace, Lukas Lacko. He will directly reach the quarter-finals of the tournament with this win having received the Bye in the first round.
Seven times French Open Champion lost to the German professional, Alexander Waske, in 2005 at Halle and that was his first and only defeat until now. He is returning to the arena after a wait of almost seven years and wants to
re-write history with some wins in the Pre-Wimbledon warm-up. He is already on a 13 match winning streak and would like to bag third title on the trot especially on the grass court surface that is supposed to be an alien territory for the invincible Spaniard.
Talking to the media representatives, he stated, “This time, I can lose tomorrow but for sure I'll try to stay focused on the match. The week after winning a tournament like Roland Garros is never easy because there is a lot of
tension, a lot of emotion. I also played a lot of matches on clay this season; I am always a little tired after the French. There are adjustments -- the speed of the court, how to hit the ball on grass. I came here in 2005, played a couple years at Queen's,
the transition was never easy.”
He doesn’t like an abrupt shift of the surface from clay to grass because that makes it very difficult for him to adjust especially after a gruelling Grand Slam tournament, the Roland Garros French Open. He also confessed that
he is not the favourite to win the title and the grass court specialist from Switzerland, Roger Federer, who is the second seed in the tournament is most likely to win the sixth trophy at Halle.
Nadal believes that Federer is the only player who is able to switch from clay to grass with utmost command. Federer don’t require time to adjust to the transitions. He just switches on the grass court mode and carries on with
his sublime form. Hence, he is the hot favourite to claim the title. However, the Spaniard will try his best to own his arch rival on one of Federer’s favourite sporting arena.
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