Top

Rafa: Those seven months are in the past


 

Originally published on: 04/03/13 00:00

The Spaniard had shown glimpses of the tennis that helped him to 11 Grand Slam titles on his tour comeback in South America but his annihilation of Ferrer in Acapulco was final proof, if needed, that Nadal is back to his very best.

The Mallorcan took just 65 minutes to clinch a 6-0, 6-2 win over Davis Cup team-mate Ferrer, who rose to No.4 in the rankings during Nadal’s seven-month injury lay-off. The victory marked the 52nd title of Nadal’s career (38th on clay), and the second since his return from injury. 

“This was a great week for me and today I played exceptionally well, I dominated the game against the world No. 4 and couldn't be happier, especially when I think where I am coming from,” said Nadal, who beat another Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro, in the semi-final. “Perhaps the conditions were in my favour but I feel it was maybe one of the best matches of my career.

“Those seven months are in the past, hopefully forever. I played like that did not happen, but it did happen.”

Nadal is scheduled to take on Juan Martin del Potro in the BNP Paribas Showdown on a hard court in New York’s Madison Square Garden on March 4th to celebrate World Tennis Day before making his competitive return to hard courts at Indian Wells, the first ATP Masters 1000 of the season, this week.

“My knee responded well all week,” said Nadal. “My heart tells me I should continue competing, that I need to move on to the next tournament.” 

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here


Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.