Rafael Nadal Opens up on Loss:-“Things started so quick”

Rafael Nadal slumped to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 defeat to Novak Djokovic during the final of Australian Open 2019. While in the post-match press conference, he spoke about what he probably did wrong during the match.

“I make more mistakes because he pushed more. That’s all. Is not about being more nervous. I have been normal nerves, like final of Grand Slam. But the things started so quick. He was pushing me to every ball.”

“What on other days have been a serve and a ball that I can have in offensive position, today have been in defensive position. That’s not nerves. That’s things that happened quicker than what happened the previous days.”

“I don’t like to say he played unbelievable well because looks like you find an excuse for yourself. The real thing is he played so well. He did a lot of things very difficult unbelievable well. He hit so long. His return was fantastic. He was super quick.”

Nadal truly believes that Djokovic was able to work very hard on the off-season on his movement. He praised the Serbian player’s movement, say that he did it unbelievable well. According to the Spaniard, good shots came back with offensive position for him. This was especially since Rafa himself was in a defensive position.

Continuing, he said, “In my opinion, is all about have the chance to increase that step of intensity. As I said before, probably I was not able to make that happen tonight. But I have the confidence that I did a lot of things well this tournament. I have the confidence that I will reach this extra level of intensity in the future if I am able to practice well.”

However, he denied any claims that he was extremely nervous. The World Number 2 said that he was no more nervous than usual.