‘An important part of my life is leaving too,’ says emotional Rafael Nadal to his manager, Ivan Lendl
“I’ve got a lot to go and leave now,” he says, in a clear reference to his forthcoming Australian Open semi-final loss to Roger Federer.
“I’m starting to miss the French Open and the grand slam. I do feel a sense of urgency to go home and play some great tennis.
“I haven’t slept properly for two days, because I missed the last four rounds in four matches. I did the best I could.”
The Spaniard went out in five sets to Federer in the opening round, having won the opener in five sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 against Tomáš Berdych.
He had been out of the tournament before in 2004, but recovered during his return to the event in 2010, when he reached the semi-finals in Melbourne.
That run, however, was cut short as he slipped to the third round in 2011.
“It was a tough year,” he says when asked if he suffered a slump at that time.
“I couldn’t get myself back to the top. I fought very hard, and lost against [Milos] Raonic and, afterwards, I felt a big disappointment.
“But in the end, the only positive was that I got my second grand slam, the French Open.”
Nadal will be looking to recover from that disappointment at the Australian Open, and make it a successful year after the first three rounds were played on Saturday.
“It is going to be important, because I love to play in Melbourne and in Australia,” Nadal says.
“I am going to try to enjoy the moment and stay in my zone and have fun.
“I will be playing very well in the early rounds, as I expected, and hope to win a little. At the end, I’ll be very happy to play in the third round, because my opponent is going to be the world number six, Roger Federer.”
