By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday May 11, 2022
After his straight sets win over John Isner in Rome, King of Clay Rafael Nadal admits that he is in a “rush” to hit peak form as Roland-Garros looms.
The Spaniard, who improved to 44-0 on clay after losses with is 6-3, 6-1 victory over the American, was back on the practice courts Wednesday at Rome, hoping to fine tune his legendary clay game.
“I talked very clear since I came back, no, that I am in a little bit of a rush, that I have to find as soon as possible the best feelings. I need to recover things that I missed because of the injury, of course,” he said.
The 13-time Roland-Garros champion is aiming for his 11th title at Rome. He improved to 467-44 on clay with his win on Wednesday. But his focus remains forward-looking.
“I need to work as much as I can to be ready in a couple of weeks,” he said. “Of course, tomorrow is the priority today. But at the same time, the medium term, long term, I need to keep going. The only way for me to give myself a chance to recover the level that I want to recover, or I want to reach, is to work.
“The match today was not that strong physically or demanding physically, so I felt myself a little bit more can keep helping, no? That's it. Nothing more than that.”