PARIS — Rafael Nadal likened his struggles with injury in the last 18 months to being in a jungle as the 14-times French Open champion hoped to return to Roland Garros for the Olympic Games after making a premature exit from the Grand Slam.
Nadal crashed to a 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 defeat by fourth seed Alexander Zverev in Paris and although there were positives, he said he could not predict how his battered body would respond to the demands of the Games in July and August.
“My body has been a jungle for two years. You don’t know what to expect. I wake up one day and I find a snake biting me. Another day a tiger,” Nadal said according to Reuters.
“So that’s the thing. Now, I need to prepare myself, I need to clear my ideas and see what’s the new calendar to try to be ready for Olympics. I can’t say anything today, but my main goal now is to play the Olympics.”
Nadal will be eyeing his third gold medal after triumphing in singles in the 2008 Beijing Games and doubles eight years later in Rio.
He had expressed doubts about his fitness ahead of what is likely his final French Open.
“Today in the match, I felt I was able to move myself much better than in the previous tournaments. But I had a very tough opponent in front of me. He played well,” Nadal added.
“I had my chances… I mean, I wasn’t that far. That’s my feeling. That’s probably my truth… I played at a good level in all ways, comparing to the way I was playing the weeks before. So, happy for that.
“Of course disappointed to lose, but in terms of body feelings, I’m happy that I finished healthy and I had a tough battle out there. And I was ready for a little bit more.”
Nadal said it would be unwise to prepare for the grasscourt season that follows with a potentially difficult transition back to clay for the Olympics.
“It looks difficult, honestly. For me now I can’t confirm what’s going on, but it looks difficult to make a transition to grass, having the Olympics again on clay,” Nadal said.
“I need to talk with the team. I need to analyse so many facts. But I don’t think it’s going to be smart after all the things that happened to my body to make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back to clay.
Nadal found moments of his vintage best tennis, especially with his trademark forehand passing shot. But Zverev’s booming serve, aggressive forehand and calm under pressure proved too much to overcome after three hours and five minutes.
“To be honest I don’t know what to say. First of all, thank you Rafa from all of the tennis world. It’s such a great honour,” Zverev said in his on-court interview.
“I’ve watched Rafa play all my childhood and I was lucky enough to play Rafa when I became a professional. I was lucky enough to play him two times on this beautiful court. I don’t know what to say. Today is not my moment, it’s Rafa’s moment, so thank you.”
As soon as the draw was made, the talk of Roland Garros was this tantalising showdown, a rematch of their semi-final in Paris two years ago, when they played for more than three hours before Zverev was forced to retire due to a devastating ankle injury.
There was so much excitement for the match that Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and WTA No. 1 Iga Swiatek all sat in the stands to take in the action.
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