Rafael Nadal said all the right things after his three-set victory over Andy Murray in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open on Friday.
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But Murray never had Nadal worried, even when Murray won the first five games of the first set and went up a break in the third and deciding set. The Spaniard's biggest concern was an opponent that he has struggled to beat in multiple matches this year.
His mind.
"If my mental part works well, my tennis is going to be there," Nadal said after his 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory, as reported by tennis.si.com. "Soon or later, but it's going to be there. And today, for moments, I felt like I played one of my best matches since a while. So very happy for that."
According to tennis.si.com, Murray brought out the best in Nadal - after those first five games. And vice-versa.
Both players have struggled in 2014. A back injury and a loss in the Australian Open finals to Stanislas Wawrinka had shaken Rafa's confidence. Back surgery last fall and the loss of coach Ivan Lendl have handcuffed Murray through the first 4 ½ months of the current tennis season.
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"Tonight was probably the best I've hit the ball for a while and it's the best I've felt physically since the surgery," Murray said. "I was starting to get there the last couple of weeks, but the beginning of the year was tough for me in that respect. I feel like now I'm hitting the ball cleanly."
But it's Nadal whose legacy is on the line as he looks for his ninth French Open championship beginning next week at Roland Garros.
He is being compared to Roger Federer in a debate about the greatest tennis player ever.
Yet, Nadal had lost to the likes of David Ferrer (at the Monte Carlo Tennis Masters) and Nicolas Almagro (at the Barcelona Open) earlier during the clay season and looked defeated last week in the finals of the Madrid Open to Kei Nishikori before, ironically, a back injury forced Nishikori to withdraw.
Then, Nadal opened his week in Rome having to struggle to three-set wins over Gilles Simon and Mikhail Youzhny. His three-set win over Murray marked the first time since 2005 that he won three consecutive decisive set matches on clay in a single tournament, tennis.si.com reported.
"Tonight I didn't have negative thoughts through the whole match," Nadal said. "The first two days even if I fought a lot I had some doubts.
"This one is a very important one for me against a very difficult player. One of the best players in the world. He played well. It's a victory that means a lot to me."
Nadal was talking about Murray but easily could've been talking about himself.
Do you consider Rafael Nadal to be the favorite at the French Open, despite his struggles with confidence this season? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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