“It’s very difficult to control him” Rafael Nadal heaps praise on Felix Auger-Aliassime after a nervy match, addresses his title of ‘King of Clay’
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Rafael Nadal and Felix Auger-Aliassime
World No. 5 Rafael Nadal reaches his 16th quarter-final at the Roland Garros as he defeated Canadian young gun Felix Auger-Aliassime 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a thrilling battle of 4 hours and 21 minutes in the fourth round of the 2022 French Open. The win powers him closer to his 14th French Open and 22nd Grand Slam title despite having injuries concerns even before he landed in Paris.
Felix became just the third player ever in history to take Nadal to 5-sets in the French Open after John Isner in the first round of the 2011 French Open and Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the 2013 French Open. Nadal however won all three of those matches with the win over Felix being his 109th in the Grand Slam. The Canadian however earned the respect of Rafa for his battle and the 21-time major winner deservingly appreciated him as well.
“The difference was I played better. In the sport it is very simple, if you play better you have better chances, if you play worst you have less chances. In that case, when I played well, I won the match, when I played not that well I had a lot of trouble. First set I didn’t play well so I lost and then after the first set, I started to play much better in my opinion. Much more aggressive and then I played good at the end of the second set and I think a very good third set and then I made a super mistake at the beginning of the fourth.
“The situation had already changed and I was in control of the match and then I suffered but most important thing that I played a good fifth set especially the last three-four games with great determination so very happy for that and all respect and credit to Felix that he’s playing better and better and if you are not able to push him back it’s very difficult to control him because he has a huge serve and first shot with his forehand is very aggressive,” said Nadal during his press conference.
“I never felt that way” Rafael Nadal on being called the ‘King of Clay’
With an unmatchable record on Clay so far that currently stands at 488-46 in his career and 109-3 in the French Open, Nadal’s incredible success on the claycourts where he has won 62 titles from 70 finals he has contested, many call the Spaniard the ‘King of Clay’ but the player himself does not think in a similar manner.
“King of clay? Nobody calls me this way in my family or even in my close group of people. I never felt that way of course on this surface I achieved more than the rest so I don’t need to be called a King of nothing. I know what I did in my tennis career and on this surface. I know nothing else,” added Nadal surprised at the question.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)