Nadal: "Even if I had reached 100 percent, it would have been difficult to beat Novak"
The Spaniard did not stand a chance in the 3-6, 2-6, 3-6 final of the Australian Open against Novak Djokovic, who played almost flawlessly. Never before had the eleven-time Paris champion lost a grand slam final in three sets.
by Ulrike Weinrich from Melbourne
last edit: Jan 27, 2019, 04:45 pm
Rafael Nadal looked tidy as he sat in front of the world press with a fresh shower in jeans, a white polo shirt and a black baseball cap on his head.
While the newly minted seven-time Australian Open record champion on the facility in Melbourne Park was passed from one TV station to the next and fulfilled many selfie and autograph requests in between, his eternal rival had to put up with questions about the reasons for his bitter defeat.
Again and again, the 32-year-old reached for a water bottle and razor-sharp analysis. "It was incredible how Novak played, there is no doubt about it," Nadal praised the Serb, but also attributed his own performance to his long injury break (knee injury and ankle surgery) at the end of last season.
"His balls were long, his return was fantastic and he was super fast" Rafael Nadal about Novak Djokovic
For five months he hadn't had to face such a challenge as on this mild summer evening in the Rod Laver Arena, said "Rafa" and missed "that special something" in his arsenal as a weapon in order to be competitive at this "super high level" .
The second place in the world rankings was that the shortened preparation and as a result of another thigh injury at the beginning of the year meant that he could not train as desired.
"It was not possible to work on my defensive game. And when I play against a opponent like Novak, I need the defensive qualities to be able to act aggressively in the end," said Nadal, who did not play a set until the final had - and then got caught ice cold during the 2:04 hour "Nole" gala.
Nadal does not believe that this defeat will set him back
The left-hander also made it clear that it would have been "difficult" to beat the formidable Djokovic (9 Unforced Errors) this summer evening, "even if I had achieved 100 percent."
But at least the duel would have been a bit more justice to his reputation as a "dream finale" if the two protagonists had met at least approximately at eye level.
Nadal denied that he was nervous at the start of the match, when Djokovic led 3-0 after just nine minutes. "I made more mistakes because he pushed me so much. Everything went so fast. I was on the defensive. And he did a lot of things incredibly well. His balls were long, his return was fantastic, and he was super fast," explained the crowd favorite.
The Mallorcan does not believe that the defeat will throw him back. The semi-final knockout in Wimbledon 2018 against Djokovic (8:10 in the fifth set) had given him greater "mental pain" than this, "Rafa", who made a new attempt at major titles in his living room in Paris at the end of May Will take number 18.