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Nadal perde embate com Ferrer e se nega a falar sobre a lesão no Australian Open

Rafael Nadal enfrentou nesta quarta-feira em Melbourne, primeiro David Ferrer e após ser eliminado pelo amigo, por 6/4 6/2 6/3, nas quartas-de-final, na Rod Laver Arena, enfrentou os jornalistas na coletiva de imprensa.

Nadal insistiu em não falar sobre a lesão que sentiu no primeiro set. Primeiro por não saber sobre o que de fato aconteceu – virilha? -, já que a partida havia terminado há poucos minutos, depois por respeito ao adversário e amigo que “jogou muito tênis” e também por não querer usar a lesão como desculpa para cada derrota que tem.

O fato é que mesmo os super-heróis do esporte são humanos. O corpo de Nadal já vinha dando sinas de cansaço desde o torneio de Doha e apesar dele ter dito que estava se sentindo superbem antes do jogo contra Ferrer, em algum momento o corpo pede descanso.

O tão falado Rafa Slam ficará para um outro momento, ou um outro jogador. Antes do Grand Slam australiano começar, Nadal mesmo admitia que essa chance era praticamente única e que seria difícil chegar perto disso novamente, ganhar tantos Grand Slams na sequência.

Transcrevo aqui as partes mais interessantes do embate entre Nadal e os jornalistas no Australian Open.

D. FERRER/R. Nadal

6-4, 6-2, 6-3

RAFAEL NADAL

Q.  What can you tell us about the

injury?  What did David say to you at the end

of the match?

RAFAEL NADAL:  I can say nothing

about the injury.  Seriously, I would prefer don’t

talk a lot about the injury.

Tonight, first of all, I don’t know nothing.

Second thing, for respect to the winner and to a

friend, I prefer to talk about the match.  I think he

played at a very high level.  I just congratulate

him and wish him all the best for the semifinal.  I

think he’s doing a fantastic tournament.  If he

keep playing like this, he going to have a good

chances.

What David told me at the net is for me

and that’s it.

Q.  How emotional is it for you

tonight?

RAFAEL NADAL:  Yes, is a difficult day

for me.  I lost in quarterfinals another time.  So I

tried my best.  I couldn’t do more.  Tonight I think

I played against a great player, a great opponent.

Today I really can’t do more than what I did.  So

he played at a very high level, and I wasn’t able

to compete against him tonight.

Q.  It’s going to be difficult for us to

write a piece without appreciating how well

you could move.  It seemed to us you

couldn’t move as well as you would like to

have been moving tonight.  Is that a fair

statement?

RAFAEL NADAL:  You see the match?

Q.  Yes.

RAFAEL NADAL:  So you are ready to

write everything.  I don’t have to tell you about

what I felt on the court because I tried my best all

the time.  But is obvious that I didn’t feel at my

best.  I had a problem during the match, in the

very beginning.  After that, the match was almost

over.  So that’s what I can say.

But you know what, for me is difficult

come here and speak about.  In Doha I wasn’t

healthy.  Today I have another problem.  Seems

like I always have problems when I lose, and I

don’t want to have this image, no?  I prefer don’t

talk about that today.  If you can respect that, will

be a very nice thing for me.  Thank you.

Q.  What was the problem, though?

RAFAEL NADAL:  You are listening me?

I can’t tell you which problem I have.  First thing,

because I don’t know.  That’s my answer.

Q.  What you achieved in the last year

was nothing short of amazing.  Does this

break your heart a little bit that it had to

happen like this?

RAFAEL NADAL:  The tennis career,

you have higher moments and lower moments.  I

had almost all the time very, very happy

moments and very nice moments in my career.

That’s part of the sport.  Last year I was very

lucky.  I was healthy most of the year.  I was

playing unbelievable during all the year.

This year I did I think all the right things

to start the season playing really well.  And,

seriously, I was playing like this in the first

exhibition in Abu Dhabi.  After that starts the

problem.  Was a difficult month for me, no?

That’s part of the sport.  Accept; keep

working; try my best in the next tournament.

That’s what I can do.

Last year I had a fantastic year.  This

year the year just start.  Last year in the

beginning I had problems, too, and finally was

the best season of my career.  I think is almost

impossible to repeat that.  But remain a lot, and

remain a lot to have hopefully really good

moments, and at the same time, too, really

negative moments.

So this is one of bad ones, one of

negative moments.  That’s part of the sport.  I

think I am very, very lucky sportsman about what

happened in my career.  And I have to accept the

fantastic moments that I had during a lot of years

with the same calm that when I have problems.

And if I am ready to accept both things with I

think let’s say everything the same, I going to be

able to come back and play my best tennis

another time.

Q.  How do you think David will get on

in the semifinals?

RAFAEL NADAL:  He’s playing fantastic.

But I think he’s not the favorite.  But if he keep

playing like this, hopefully he can have a good

chance to be in the final or win the tournament.  I

would love.  Is a fantastic person.  Is a close

friend of mine.  So I wish him all the best.

I think that Andy is playing very good,

too, but David is playing at high level, no?

Q.  After what happened in Doha,

coming here a little bit late…

RAFAEL NADAL:  Coming late?

Q.  You were ill in Doha and came to

Melbourne a little bit late.

RAFAEL NADAL:  I didn’t came late.

You are wrong.  I was here one week before the

tournament.  Is more than enough.

Q.  The question is, with you being ill

in Doha, then what happened after the Tomic

match, did you feel that maybe this

tournament wasn’t meant to be, wasn’t

destiny to win?

RAFAEL NADAL:  I tried my best in

Doha.  Was a difficult week for me.  Here,

seriously, before the match of today I started to

feel that I am playing much better and I am very

healthy and don’t have no problem in general.

So I was happy about happened during the first

week because I was through without being

perfect.

I started the second week with a very

good match against Cilic and improving my level

every day.  Seriously, I was practicing much

better than in the beginning of the tournament,

and I felt ready to play this quarterfinals.  But

wasn’t the day.

Q.  What will be your next

tournament?

RAFAEL NADAL:  I don’t know yet.  I

have to think a little bit about everything and we

will see what’s going on in the next weeks.

Q.  We appreciate your fair play, and

we understand what you’re saying.  I just

would like to know if you didn’t have in front

of you a friend of yours, would you have kept

till the last ball and point to stay on court or

would you have left a little before?

RAFAEL NADAL:  I hate the retirements,

so this wasn’t the day.  I did last year.  I hate that

moment.  I didn’t want to repeat that.

Q.  The match against Cilic showed

you were recovering well.  Did you feel

anything unusual the last couple days?

RAFAEL NADAL:  I felt fantastic the last

couple days.  I practiced very good yesterday.  I

had a fantastic warmup today before the match.

Only feeling that I can say was very positive.  I

started the second week, and when the second

week started, everything was better and better

for me:  the health, sweat, the level of tennis.

Everything was better and better.

Q.  Earlier today Andy Murray said

there’s a number of guys on tour who on any

given day can beat each other:  yourself,

Robin, Roger…

RAFAEL NADAL:  I didn’t understand.

Q.  He said any one of the top six or

seven players on any day can beat each

other.  Do you think after the year you had

last year, our expectations of you are

probably higher than yours, given the

evenness of the top six or seven players?

RAFAEL NADAL:  For me there are

much more than six or seven on the tour that can

beat everybody.  I think is more than these few.

In general, the expectations, I don’t know which

expectations you have about me.  I have my

ones.  I have my goals.  Probably we think

different ways, no?

I live day to day with myself.  You see

everything from outside.  I know how difficult is

everything.  Probably, you know, not exactly the

same.  This part is difficult, no?  This part is very

competitive.  You have to have be in perfect

conditions to win.  The season is always crazy,

very long.  You can’t have time to rest and come

back to prepare perfect in a season.  That’s this

game.  Only the best players, only the more

prepared players physically and mentally are

ready to be here and to be in the top positions a

long time.

My expectations, I said before the

tournament, I said before the year start, is enjoy

every day and practice hard every day with same

illusion, humble and motivation that I did all my

career.  So that’s my principal goal, in general,

no?

I lost in quarterfinals today.  We’ll see

what’s happen in next tournament.  I’ll work hard

to be ready.

Q.  Can you tell us your feelings

tonight compared to this time last year?

RAFAEL NADAL:  Is different because

last year was the knees.  I had a problem, big

problem, in the knee in the past.  So was hard for

me to have another time the same.  I didn’t see a

solution in that.  Is not the case.

I came last year after probably six, seven

months really hard for me of injuries and of

problems in general.  So was a hard situation.

This year everything is a little bit different.  I have

three more Grand Slams at home, a few more

Masters 1000s and a few more tournaments.

I can say nothing wrong because I had a

fantastic time last year.  Not possible be all the

time at hundred percent.  Not possible all the

time to have all the positive factors together to

win in every tournament.

Last year happened in almost every one.

This year we start with a little bit of unlucky.  I

gonna work hard to come back and to keep

having chances and to compete against the best

players and to keep being in the top positions of

the ranking, so…

I love playing tennis.  I love the

competition.  And I love, in general, the hard

moments because you are ready to change the

situation working hard, working every day with a

goal and with illusion.

Q.  You said your preparation was

good for this year.  Was the vacation long

enough after London?

RAFAEL NADAL:  The vacation long

enough?  No, one day is enough, you think?

Never is enough.  With this sport you never have

vacations enough.  This part is special for

different things.  This factor is one of the special

things that makes the tour hard and difficult.

Only the best players mentally prepared are

ready to be here long time.

I said before, wasn’t a problem of

holidays, the start of the season.  The only

problem was a little bit of unlucky.  In general, I

had a virus.  When you have a virus, your body

goes down and you have more risk of everything.

That’s probably what happened.  That’s the

simple thing.

Now we have to accept.  I said 100

times.  But the only thing I can say is, accept the

situation and work to try to have another very

good season.

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