The former No. assured 1 in the ATP ranking that facing Rafa on clay is one of the biggest challenges a tennis player can face.
In the press conference before his debut in Indian Wells, Daniel Medvedevcurrent no. 6 in the world and former leader of the ATP ranking, has identified what his biggest fear is as a professional tennis player: face Rafael Nadal on clay.
“I’m really afraid to play against Rafa on clay, although we have to try”, assured the Russian tennis player, who has just won three consecutive titles on hard surfaces and seems to be rediscovering his best version.
“I have never played with Nadal on that surface. But this is perhaps the biggest challenge for a tennis player: beating Nadal on clay. I think he lost almost ten games.”, Medvedev insisted. The fact is that there have been 45 defeats for the Spaniard in the brick dust in 519 games played. 91.3% effective. absurd numbers.
“I’ve beaten Djokovic a few times, but I’ve also lost big matches against him. I know that in Australia it is very difficult to beat. But playing Nadal on clay is both the best and worst challenge in tennis.. On the one hand I want to try and of course I will do everything to beat him but It must be scary to be against him in a match on clay”, Medvedev deepened, with 43.9% effectiveness on slow surfaces.
Rafael Nadal’s set-up for his return to the circuit
The ‘King of Dust’, winner of 14 Roland Garros titles, has not competed since the second round of the Australian Open, when he suffered a serious illness. damage to the iliopsoas of his left leg. This is why he intensified training on slow courts and in the late hours shared a video of the set-up through his Instagram account.
The 36-year-old tennis player plans to reappear in Monte Carlo Masters 1000which begins on April 9. Then, Nadal awaits the tournaments of Barcelona (April 17 to 23), Madrid (April 26 to May 7), Rome (May 10 to 21) and its great purpose, Roland Garros (May 28 to June 11).
Source: Tycsports
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
