Roger Federer on Rafael Nadal: "That Was Not The Rafa We Know"
Rafael Nadal’s defeat against the 17-year-old Borna Coric in the Basel Swiss Indoors quarterfinals was a surprise to everyone, even to the world no. 2, Roger Federer. Roger Federer, who further closed the gap with the world no. 1 Novak Djokovic in the battle for year-end world no. 1 ranking, by claiming his sixth Swiss Indoors Basel title 6-2, 6-2 over David Goffin on Sunday, said that he did not expect Coric to defeat Nadal.
“That was not the Rafa we know," Federer noted .
The Swiss Maestro, whose match followed Nadal’s in Basel, saw the Spaniard drop the first set expecting the world no. 3 to turn things around. Apparently, Nadal was not in his best form and obviously below his usual level, having been diagnosed with appendicitis during the Shanghai Masters.
Federer further said that he does not want to take anything away from Coric, as he did wonderful but Nadal is so weak he almost did not see the world no. 3. Following his defeat, Rafael Nadal announced in the post-match press conference that he will be withdrawing from the Paris and the ATP World Tour Finals to make way for his upcoming appendix surgery and rehabilitation of his back, which he suffered since the Australian Open.
Federer said that he would not do the same thing that Nadal did and he does not understand why he played in Shanghai with antibiotics despite the pain and he even push through the Swiss Indoors in Basel only to end the season for an eventual operation.
The world no. 3 further claimed that he does not regret playing in Basel and he is aware that he will lose sometime in the course of the tournament. He claimed that he will not push through with the upcoming tournaments because he is a player who wins, not someone who just qualifies for the quarterfinals. Following his appendectomy, Rafael Nadal is set to be back in 2015, where his campaign will start in Doha.
Meanwhile, from three available slots for the ATP World Tour Finals, another slot was opened when Rafael Nadal revealed his withdrawal from the event next month.
