World No. 1 Rafael Nadal offered a sobering dose of reality to the tennis world Thursday, following a second straight match in which the Spaniard struggled with an inferior opponent.
“Get used to [it],” Nadal told Sports Illustrated. “Because with the years it is the normal thing and in the end everybody suffers. It’s part of the sport. It’s part of the careers of everybody.”
Nadal knocked off Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 on Friday at the Italian Open, a day after beating Gilles Simon 7-6 (1), 6-7 (4), 6-2, for a combined six hours and three minutes of tennis in less than 24 hours.
“I am almost 28. At this age, [Bjorn] Borg was doing other things,” Nadal said. “It’s not possible to win for 10 years a lot of matches with easy results, easy scores. At the same time, I am sure that I can do it much better than I am doing. I need to do it. When somebody wants to do it, when somebody is fighting to do it, a lot of times you find the solutions. I am fighting in every match.”
Next up for Nadal is a stiff test against Andy Murray in the quarterfinals, and while the 27-year-old is 13-5 against the Brit during his career - including a perfect record against him on clay - Nadal at least has a solid backup plan if his struggles continue and is ousted.
“Tomorrow is the day to make a little bit of change and to go for the ball, for the points,” Nadal said. “We’ll see. If I play well, I’m going to have my chances. If not, I’m going to spend a weekend in Mallorca.”
