
Casper Ruud says that Rafael Nadal and his family have always been very good to him and that he has nothing but a great level of respect and appreciation for the entire Nadal family. Ruud, 23, grew up watching and idolizing Nadal before getting the chance to meet his idol at the Spaniard's workplace. Ruud, who is now a two-time Grand Slam finalist and one of the biggest names in the world, is grateful for everything the Nadal family did for him. "You can learn everything from Rafa, from any type of shot to mentality and professionalism. When I arrived at the structure I was surprised by the intensity of each training session, and that has helped me to increase the intensity that I put into each practice. Rafa's team and his family are incredible. They have always been with me, and they do a spectacular job with a young community," Ruud said of Nadal and his family, according to Sportskeeda. In the 2012 Australian Open final, Nadal narrowly lost to Novak Djokovic in a five-set final. That match lasted almost six hours and Ruud admitted to feeling "sad about the loss" for a couple of days. "I think I can say for Rafa. I would like to be able to change a result in tennis history and I don't know if he will be angry or happy that I say this. It's not this year's Roland Garros final because it wasn't a very even match, but Rafa's loss at the 2012 Australian Open against Novak. I was probably sadder than he was because that was watching six hours of television and expecting Rafa to win and then it was probably one of the best matches ever."
Rafa had another successful seasonRafael Nadal had another successful season on the ATP tour this year. "The season has had several very different phases and was totally marked by my physical problems. Everything changed when we found an effective treatment for the foot, which has helped me a lot. That radically changed the perspective of my continuity in high-level tennis," Nadal said. "I am very happy to return to a country that has always given me so much affection. I have great memories of when I was here in 2013 and I will never be able to forget my battles against Fernando González. The most important match of my career against a Chilean was the semifinals of Beijing 2008 against him. I also know Nico Massú well, we've had good times together."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/QNlEGrK
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