Rafael Nadal was ahead of the forecast, for his career, at the US Open. He was knocked out by Frances Tiafoe on a tropical afternoon in the New York central, where perhaps the Spaniard had part of his head placed many miles away.
“I've been training well the last week, really. But when the competition started, my level dropped, it's the truth. For some reasons, I don't know, maybe mental issues, because there's a lot that's happened in the last couple of months,” she said. It was a reference to physical problems – several injuries during the year, topped off with the abdominal rupture at Wimbledon – there are personal matters, such as the hospital visit at the end of the month by his wife, María Francisca Perelló, who is pregnant.
“There are no excuses”, lend. “There are times when you can handle everything and others when you can't. This time she has touched the latter. I congratulate the opponent. The reality is simple: I haven't played well, and when that happens you have to lose."
He explained what happened in sports: “He was not able to maintain a high level of tennis for a long time. I wasn't fast enough in my movements,” he said. “You need to be very, very fast and very young. And I'm not in that moment anymore."
After the defeat, Nadal's priority is off the track. “I have much more important things than waiter tennis,” he said of how he will approach the rest of the season. “It is time to reset. It's been a tough few months. It's time to start over, professionally speaking. Now is the time to have the first child and trust that everything will turn out well.”
Despite this setback, Nadal could leave the 'great' New Yorker as number one in the world. He will get it if neither Casper Ruud nor Carlos Alcaraz reach the final of the tournament.
About the young Spanish star, who would be the youngest number one in history, Nadal said that he wishes him “the best” and that he is signing “a fantastic year”. But he did not hide the competitive side of him: "It is greater that it is not because if it would not be me, there is no need to be a hypocrite."
