Rafael Nadal admitted Friday that he faces his “most difficult ever Roland Garros” as he prepares for an assault on a 13th French Open titl...
Rafael Nadal admitted Friday that he faces his “most difficult ever Roland Garros” as he prepares for an assault on a 13th French Open title.
The 34-year-old needs one more Slam to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20, but the great Spaniard’s mood was as dark as the Paris skies as he addressed the media two days out from the start of the season’s concluding major.
“The conditions here are probably the most difficult conditions for me ever at Roland Garros for so many different facts,” said the world number two.
“The ball is completely different. It is super slow, heavy. It’s also very cold, slow conditions. And of course, the preparation has been less than usual.”
Nadal, who won his first French Open 15 years ago and has been beaten just twice in 95 matches at the tournament, arrives in a chilly and damp Paris worryingly under-cooked.
He skipped the defence of his US Open title for fears over the coronavirus and played just three matches on clay in Rome last week where he exited in the quarter-finals.
That was his first tournament since February and he now faces the prospect of playing a French Open pushed back four months from its traditional May-June slot.
The early summer heat and quick conditions, in...
