we need to verify this. I saw this on facebook as I was having a lightening quick look there.
Toni Nadal said," We don't deserve the victory, Nishikori deserves it. He played better than us the whole time... We had a lot of luck today. We didn't really come back, he was hurt."
it almost sounds like uncle tony is not really happy with the way clay warrior played.
I have been looking at the highlights. rafa did not return well and he also tried running around his backhand a bit too much.
also I thought rafa's shots lacked the venom and the mustard. he did not hard enough and forcefully enough.
rafa has one hell of a window. he really needs to be taking advantage of this:
nole has wrist issues
andy murray is not 100%
roger is getting old
del potro is out of the game
rafa is allowing himself to be pushed around by the players he has not lost to in 10 years.
still there is a way out of this: just do all you can to win rome and RG and many of the issues go away temporarily.
for the long run, rafa has got to start putting in the hard yards in practice. that is the only reason others are catching up. they are more hungry and are working harder.
he has to do the following:
1. work on the backhand
2. the return
3. the serve
4. fitness