Francisco Roig: "Many days to find the mechanisms"
Francisco Roig spoke to Marca about Rafael Nadal 's first training impressions at Wimbledon. After the clear defeat in the training match against Kamil Majchrzak , these were not entirely good.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jun 21, 2022, 06:55 pm
First of all: The result of a training set should, no, not be given too much importance. Above all, not if this happened a few hours after arriving at a new facility, perhaps even on a new surface. It would therefore also be presumptuous to give Rafael Nadal all competitiveness six days before the start of Wimbledon, just because he had to lose a set and a half against a certain Kamil Majchrzak in the most recent training session.
Nevertheless, it would also be presumptuous to immediately include the Pole in the ranks of favorites for the title at the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. Because: It is and remains simply a training set. This is how the assessment of Francisco Roig, long-time companion of the Spaniard, which he gave to the Spanish Marca , can be summed up: "It's a bit of the dynamic that we've seen in the last few years when we came here "It's difficult for us at the beginning. It's a completely different dynamic on grass, we haven't played a tournament on this surface yet," said the Spaniard.
Nadal plays exhibition
That was exactly what was different in the past, where the Mallorcan didn't miss the opportunity to travel to London with a preparatory tournament in his legs. In 2022, however, due to foot therapy and the short time frame, this option was known to fall through. So it is also not unusual that not everything works right away like in the best (lawn) days. And a visible annoyance about your own performance with Rafael Nadal, who is otherwise so thoughtful, is not a broken neck.
"He played four or five days in Mallorca but one thing is to hit the ball more standing without having to anticipate anything from the opponent than playing that way. We had to be careful with our foot and there are bigger goals here, the challenge is greater. It's normal for it to be difficult at the beginning," said Roig, commenting on his protégé's performance.
Nadal has time to find his rhythm in a few days: in the run-up to the Wimbledon lawn classic, the Spaniard will be at an exhibition to first compete with Stan Wawrinka and then with Felix Auger-Aliassime. Roig: "We still have many days to improve, to get used to the movements, to the serves, to recognize how the ball is coming. Things like that are mechanisms that you need." The results of the exhibition could therefore provide a first impression of the Spaniard's competitive form. Although this event, similar to a training set, should not be overrated.