"The word "if" does not exist in sport. If, if, if ... it never happens. I didn`t had the opportunity to play a fourth set, lost the tiebreak of the third, that`s it. This is sport. I lost in three sets. He (Berdych) is happier than me right now." This was the answer of Rafael Nadal when he was asked what would happen if he had won the third set tiebreak in the match against Tomas Berdych. Ultimately Rafa slid with 2:6, 0:6, 6:7 (5) and was eliminated from the Australian Open.
"I`m not happy because in the first two sets my game was not at the level of what I wanted to be. In the third set I tried to show my best tennis, I was close. In 4:4 I had several break points. I fought in the tiebreak, although the situation for me was not easy. On the other hand, he was aggressive, served well in the tiebreak. When you lead with 2:0 sets is normal to feel better compared to incurring a set. The difference is huge.
In the third set I played well. Obviously, in the first two I did not have confidence, consistency. I played shallow balls and had not control with situations on the court. Facilitated him a lot. When you make such gifts to your opponent, you can`t expect to win a game of the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. I did that. "
The year began with a surprise defeat for Nadal in the first round of the tournament in Doha, followed by dropping of the quarterfinals in Melbourne, but Rafa knows how to get out of an unpleasant situation:
"I`ll continue to work on things that I do not get better in my game. When I arrived here I said that this process is not easy. When you have an injury, to return to your best tennis is not easy. In the world of sport there are so many examples of this and I was no exception.
You need to extract the positive things. Without showing my best tennis I reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. This is not a bad result according confident picks considering how I arrived here. We are still early in the season and I want to preserve hope that I will have a chance to compete with everyone.
The season is long, I know. The beginning is always difficult. I need to be ready to accept everything that happens and to try to be strong, to work hard and get back to where I want to be. When I say, "go back," I do not mean win or lose, but the feeling on the court. I have a chance to fight with everyone in the world on an equal footing, "said Nadal.
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