ROMA-. 15 days before his first duel in what will surely be his last French Open, Rafa Nadal does not feel satisfied with his level of tennis and is debating whether or not he will participate in Roland Garros.
His repaired hip and 37-year-old legs were not enough to remain competitive enough on Saturday. Ninth-ranked Hubert Hurkacz went one better than the 22-time Grand Slam champion with a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the third round of the Italian Open, the Spaniard’s beloved clay tournament.
It was his first duel against a tennis player who is in the Top 10 in the world in a year and a half and he couldn’t feel more disappointed.
“Tough day for me in every way, because I felt I was more ready than I let on,” Nadal admitted. “I’m more unpredictable today, not playing enough the last two years. “Too many doubts.”
He won just four games in Nadal’s most lopsided loss on clay in 21 years since he won just four against Gaston Gaudio in Hamburg 2003, when he was 16.
Nadal will have to work hard if he wants to be competitive once again at the French Open, which he has won a record 14 times. Roland Garros starts on May 26.
Nadal says he has two options for Paris.
“One is probably to say: Okay, I’m not ready, I’m not playing well enough,” Nadal said. “It’s another to accept how I am today and work appropriately to try to be a different way in two weeks.”
“The decision, as you can imagine, is not clear in my mind today. If I have to say which way I lean, it is to try to play it and give my best,” she said. “I couldn’t not play the most important tournament of my life.”
Nadal continues to regain his fitness after missing almost all of 2023 with a hip injury that required surgery.
Meanwhile, top seed Novak Djokovic said he was “fine” after he was accidentally hit by a water bottle on Friday. Still, Nole arrived at his Saturday practice at Foro Italico wearing a bicycle helmet to greet the fans.
In the women, number one Iga Swiatek made it eight wins in a row by beating Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4.
Swiatek trailed 4-1 in the second set, but won five games in a row after saving four break points to close the gap.
“I needed to focus better,” Swiatek said. “I know I can play well because of what I did in the first set. So I wanted to regain solidity and work on my points. She changes her rhythm and it is not easy to face her.”
Paula Badosa also came back to beat Diana Shnaider 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and reach the fourth round of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time since she played in the quarterfinals last year in Rome.
Hurkacz will now face Argentine Tomas Etcheverry (25), who eliminated Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-3, 7-5.
Chilean Nicolás Jarry (21) also advanced, saving seven set points to beat Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-2, 7-6 (6).
Serbian Hamad Medjedovic, who comes from the qualifying round, beat Alejandro Davidovich Forkina (30) 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Source: AP
