'Rafael Nadal's ruthless on the court', says top analyst

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What Rafael Nadal achieved at Roland Garros will undoubtedly be recognized as a great feat. The Spaniard overcame all difficult opponents on "his" clay, including number one Novak Djokovic, who seemed inspired and absolute favorite to win the final, and the physical problems that had plagued him before the start of the season and in the weeks before the tournament in Paris. The foot injury was the true Achilles' heel for the 36-year-old Majorcan's splendid performances on the pitch: in France he opted for infiltrations to completely reduce the pain in that area of ​​the body so that he could play the various matches at his best level. The Iberian then changed its strategy looking for a treatment that would allow it to have the same result with a much longer duration. Thus, in Barcelona he performed an operation to anesthetize those nerves permanently, obviously through the guidance of Dr. Ángel Ruiz Cotorro, who took him step by step to get out of a very complicated situation. At the press conference he called on Friday June 17, he updated the fans and the whole world on his physical condition, after the new treatment carried out with his team: "I'm happy, the sensations in my foot are strange because some parts fall asleep, but I have been told that it is normal. They told me that little by little the nerve has to get used to this new situation. The important thing is that I feel much less pain than before, I haven't limped for a week and I have trained well. This is what brings me to fly to London next Monday."

Flink praises Rafa Nadal

Speaking on a recent podcast, sports journalist Steve Flink said Ruud should learn from Rafael Nadal about being a professional and not letting the admiration of someone come in the way of his goal. "You can't let your respect and admiration for Rafa, your practice sessions at his structure, and the fact that Rafa is such a revered sportsman and such a great guy get in your way. Look at Rafa. He's ruthless on the court. He's extremely likable and so humble but when he's out there, there's absolutely no nonsense and that's really what Ruud needs to learn from him," Flink said. According to the journalist, the 23-year-old put himself under huge pressure by saying that he needed to play his best match against Rafael Nadal. "I wouldn't have expected 11 games in a row. I think Ruud could have done a little better than that. He sort of gave it away before the match when he said he had to play his best match and that he had to play better than he has ever played before. He put a lot of pressure on himsel. Nadal had to have a very bad day to lose that match, said Flink.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/g6SK9sO

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