‘Not a Matter of Place’ – Rafael Nadal Shuts Down Alexander Zverev’s Claims With Perfect Statistics

During this clay season, ‘The King of Clay’, Rafael Nadal played only in two tournaments, mainly because of the injury he sustained at the Indian Wells. Those tournaments were the Madrid Open and the Italian Open. He only reached the quarter-final of the Madrid Open and the round of 16 at the Italian Open.

Moreover, he suffered another foot injury at the Italian Open. As a result of that, not many experts are counting him out from winning the French Open. Meanwhile, the no.3 seed Alexander Zverev had some interesting things to say about Nadal playing in Paris, which forced Nadal to comment back. 

Alexander Zverev thinks Rafael Nadal plays better at the French Open, as the Spaniard gave a perfect reply 

During the pre-tournament press conference, Zverev said that he observed Nadal practice at the French Open this year. According to the German, he plays much better on the surfaces, and also, the speed of his forehand increased dramatically. “We watched him practice, and all of a sudden his forehand is just 20 miles an hour faster. He moves lighter on his feet. There is something about this court that makes him play 30% better, just being on this court,” Zverev said earlier. 

Meanwhile, Nadal had some other thoughts, as he replied to Zverev’s comments in the best way possible. “I won also a lot in Barcelona, Rome, and Monte-Carlo. It’s probably not a matter of place. My level of tennis on clay has been high for a long time. But I didn’t have the preparation I would have liked. In sports, things change quickly,” Nadal replied to Zverev’s comments. 

It’s a fact that Nadal won the French Open 13 times, which is the most wins for him in a single tournament. Apart from that, he also won other clay-court tournaments on multiple occasions. Notably, he won the Monte Carlo Masters 11 times, Barcelona Open 12 times, the Italian Open 10 times, and Madrid Open 5 times. 

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Can Nadal win the French Open for the 14th time?

Despite all the injury problems, Nadal has been practicing in full rhythm at the Philippe Chatrier stadium in Paris. Although he didn’t have a great clay-court season so far, he could turn things around at the French Open, as he has always been. 

On Sunday, he will start his campaign against Jordan Thompson of Australia and could potentially meet Novak Djokovic in the last eight. It will be interesting to see if he can overcome a tough draw and win this entire event.

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