Nadal blames nerves for another early exit
Print Edition
RAFAEL Nadal said he was struggling with nerves and self-confidence issues after he was beaten in the third round by fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco at the Miami Open on Sunday.
“It is not a question of tennis. The thing is the question of being relaxed enough to play well on court,” he said after the 4-6, 6-2, 3-6 loss at Key Biscayne.
“A month and a half ago I didn’t have the game. My game has improved but ...I am still playing with too much nerves for a lot of moments, important moments, still a little anxious on those moments.”
Nadal rejected the notion his numerous past injury problems were leading him to doubt his body.
“The physical problems are in the past. I am in competition. I’m playing weeks in a row. Is not an excuse,” he said.
“It is a different story today.
“I am feeling more tired than usual, feeling that I don’t have this self confidence that when I hit the ball I am going to hit the ball where I want to hit the ball, to go for the ball knowing that my position will be the right one.
“All these are small things that are difficult to explain. One of the tougher things has been fixed, that is the game, in my opinion. Now I need to fix again the nerves, the self-control on court. That’s another issue.
“I am confident that I can do it. I don’t know if I am going to do it but I hope I can,” he said.
With the claycourt part of the season coming up, Nadal’s preferred surface, he said the opportunity is there for him to turn his form around but he said that would not happen if he is unable to fix his mental issues.
Verdasco, ranked 34th, defeated Nadal for the second time in a row after losing their first 13 meetings, although that most recent prior meeting came three years ago in Madrid.
Also advancing with victories on Sunday were world No. 1 Serena Williams and Britain’s Andy Murray.
Murray won his 499th career match, downing Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.
Williams crushed a teen less than half her age, beating Catherine Bellis 6-1, 6-1.
The 15-year-old challenger was no match for the 33-year-old Williams, a 19-time grand slam champion bidding for a record eighth Miami trophy.
Bellis, the junior world No. 1, found herself in a major test against the game’s current dominator in her first WTA appearance since the US Open.
World No. 1 Williams is competing in Miami for the 15th time since debuting as a teenager herself in 1998, a year before fellow American Bellis was born.
Williams will next face Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat German 13th seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
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