Rafael Nadal Reveals How He Prepares For A Match With A Player He Has Never Faced
Fourteen-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal recently spoke about the preparation routine that he does against a first-time opponent following his straight sets victory 6-1 6-3 6-2 over Andrey Kuznetsov in the third round of the 2015 French Open on Saturday. According to Nadal, part of his preparation includes watching video clips of his opponent found on the Internet.
The Saturday’s match was the first time that the former World No. 1 has faced the Russian tennis player. Nadal, a 9-time champion at Roland Garros, crushed Kuznetsov to secure a spot in the Round of 16. The Mallorca native said that playing against an opponent that he has never faced in the past was “nothing very difficult.” The 24-year-old Kuznetsov was the ?champion in the Boys’ Singles during the 2009 Wimbledon Championships.
“Normally, I watch a few videos on the Internet,” Nadal said after the match in an article by Atpworldtour.com. “And then try to create an opinion and try to think about what I have to do to try to bother him a little bit.”
Nadal said that his coach and Uncle Toni has developed the same habit. Nadal added that he and Toni would talk after watching videos. However, Nadal said that it is not enough knowing the opponent’s sports performance or gaining tactic familiarity with regard to the opponent’s weaknesses and strengths. For Nadal, he needs to be able to “adjust” during the match especially if something is not going well on his favour.
Nadal is set to play against Jack Sock in his bid to defend his title at the Roland Garros. Nadal has never played against Sock in the past. Sock, who currently ranks 37th in the world rankings, has advanced in the fourth round after beating Grigor Dimitrov, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Borna Coric in the early rounds. Nadal said he knows that he needs to play “solid and aggressive” if he wants to continue winning in the grand slam tournament.
Meanwhile, Sock has said that playing against Nadal can be considered as one of the items on his bucket list, the New York Times reported. Sock said he is thrilled to face Nadal. He knows it will be a “tough but a fun” match. He reached the third round of the French Open in 2014.
Sock has only won once against a player ranked inside the top 10 of the world rankings. He beat Kei Nishikori in the second round of the Shanghai Open in 2014.
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