“Still playing in the night like today”: Rafael Nadal after thrilling win over Novak Djokovic

Rafael Nadal insists he still has a lot of work to do to win his 14th French Open title despite knocking out Novak Djokovic and says it is “too late” to compete after their quarter-final ended at dawn. Wednesday morning. The Spaniard is still on track to win a record-long 22nd Men’s Grand Slam title and will face third seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-final on his 36th birthday on Friday. Nadal faced defending champion Djokovic at Roland Garros to 8-2 with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (April 7) victory ending after 1 a.m. local time. time.

“In the end it was a very emotional night for me,” said Nadal. “I still play every night like today.

“But it’s only a quarter-final? So I’m not winning anything. I’m just giving myself the chance to be back on the court in two days. Playing another semi-final at Roland Garros here makes sense. huge for me.”

The match ended in cool conditions under the lights of Court Philippe Chatrier, with many fans covered in blankets as the game ran from May to June.

“Without a doubt, ‘it’s too late,'” said Nadal, who asked not to compete in the night trading session.

“I can’t complain because we have two days off now, but if you only have one day off, or as Zverev had in Madrid, when he has to play the final the next day, it’s a big one. big problem.

“I understand the other part of the business, without a doubt, that television pays a lot of money…

“We need to find a balance.”

Nadal, who won the Australian Open earlier this year, has struggled in recent weeks with a chronic foot injury.

He said before the match against Djokovic that this could be his last match on the Paris clay.

“I don’t know what could have happened,” he admitted. “Like I said before, I’m going to play this tournament because we’re doing everything we can to get ready to play this tournament, but I don’t know what’s going to happen after that.

“I have what I have in my legs, so if we can’t find an improvement or a small solution to that, it becomes extremely difficult for me.

“That’s it. I’m just enjoying every day that I have the opportunity to be here, and not thinking much about what might happen in the future.”

Nadal will be far ahead of Djokovic and Roger Federer on the all-time list of most major men’s titles if he lifts the trophy again on Sunday.

Promote

But he downplayed the importance of the battle between the ‘big three’.

“In my opinion, it doesn’t matter much. We achieved our dream. We made history in the sport because we did things that have never happened before. “