Knocked Out In Rome, Nadal Aims For Open French Opportunities

Tennis player Rafael Nadal (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Rafael Nadal said that he tends to play at the upcoming French Open despite being knocked out in the second half in Rome, after losing 1-6, 3-6 to Polish tennis player Hubert Hurkacz, Saturday 11 May. The clay field icon previously said that he would only play at the French Open, where he had won a record of 14 titles, if he had been competitive after a series of injury problems over the past two years that left him languishing in the rankings of 305 in the world. "Those decisions, as you can imagine, remain unclear in my current mind. But if I have to say what I feel and if my mind tends to one of them, I will say being at Roland Garros and trying my best," Nadal said, quoted by ANTARA, Sunday 12 May. "Physically I have some problems, but maybe not enough to say I didn't play in the most important event in my tennis career. Let's see what happens, how I feel mentally tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and in one week." Nadal maintains his lead in the first two games in the first set, which takes 26 minutes to solve it, but then lags behind because of the mistake that led Hurkacz to get the points. The 37-year-old double broke his serve with the wrong shot drop in the first set which was closed by Hurkacz in 49 minutes when Nadal failed through five consecutive games. The second set went just as well for Hurkacz. He did not lose a single serve of his game, breaking Nadal's serve in the third game to win.

Hurkacz will next face Tomas Etcheverry in the third half, while tournament organizers say Nadal rejects the post-match farewell celebration on the pitch which is most likely his last appearance at the Italianco Foro. Nadal said he was "98 percent, not 100 percent" confident that he would never perform in Rome's clay field again, thus rejecting the event.