Rafael Nadal isn’t proud of the Australian Open as he vented his frustrations days earlier than the Grand Slam will get underway.
The tennis celebrity took goal on the balls getting used for the 2023 match, labelling them the “worse quality”.
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Nadal reigned supreme in a five-set epic towards Daniil Medvedev final yr in a win that noticed him seize his twenty first Grand Slam victory. Moving forward Roger Federer on the all-time listing.
He’ll kick of his 2023 marketing campaign as the highest seed on Monday afternoon when he takes on Britain’s Jack Draper.
The 36-year-old nevertheless enters after a lower than beneficial construct up which noticed him lose twice throughout the United Cup in Sydney to Australia’s Alex de Minaur and Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
He then fell in a observe match to world quantity 11 Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday. All three matches had one factor in widespread and it’s what Nadal believes is the largest subject on the Australian Open.
The Spaniard stated he had tailored to the surfaces in Melbourne, however stated it was the Open’s new official ball, Dunlop, which was inflicting points.
“No, the speed of the court I think (is) not big difference. The ball, yes. I don’t know.
“They say (it) is the same, but the ball is worse quality, without a doubt. We can’t talk about that any more. It’s what we have. We need to play with it.
“I think it’s a ball that doesn’t get the same spin as usual. After a couple of hits, the ball loses the pressure. It’s more difficult to hit with the right spin. But I think it’s easier to play when you play flatter on the shots.”
Nadal’s sport type over time has been predicated on insane quantities of high spin, however with the brand new balls he finds himself behind the eight-ball.
Despite this, the 22-time Grand Slam winner isn’t backing away and is able to adapt to the problem the balls current.
“I need to live with it,” he added. “I think I practised enough with the ball to be ready for it.”
Nadal has misplaced six of his previous seven match matches, a truth he brushed apart by stating the previous few weeks have been a constructive.
“My personal momentum is not bad, I tell you. I am good and happy. I’m practising well. Then I need to win a couple of matches,” Nadal stated.
“If that can happen here – I hope. If don’t, I going to keep working to make that happen as soon as possible … I think I am in an improvement moment that I have been better and better every single week. I feel faster in the legs. I feel playing better with more confidence. The last three weeks of preparation here have been very positive from my point of view”
He added: “I would love to arrive here with a couple of victories, yes. That didn’t happen, so I need to accept that, need to live with it. The rest of the parts of my game that I have been working with, I am quite happy and I feel ready, in terms of trying to play a very good tennis on Monday. Then I need to make that happen and I’m going to fight for it.”
Nadal’s Australian Open title defence will get underway at 2:30pm (AEDT) on Monday, January 16.
