“My tennis is one thing and another…”

At the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, he was an actor on the show, playing the role of another Netflix performer, but there was a fire burning inside him: in the first set of the exhibition match between the two Carlos Alcaraz He threw a right hand and he Rafael Nadal, All he had to do was run to it, return it, as he had done so many times, and make a pass worthy of another stage, Philippe Chatrier, in the Roland Garros final. “My level of tennis is one thing, and the range of injuries is another. “I have ups and downs,” Nadal admitted during the same Netflix Slam and the challenge he faces now: how to handle Nadal carefully?

The intensity of the most intense tennis player in history doesn’t match the caution he needs at the Indian Wells Masters 1000, which starts this Thursday, but he has no other choice. “The priority is to try to get away unharmed. “Whatever I have to leave, I will leave on the clay,” Nadal commented, and that balance must be maintained. On the one hand, being Nadal, on the other, making sure not to get injured.

He will have to adapt his game and, even more difficult, his mentality. When it comes to his tennis, the most important thing his team analyzes is to reduce the number of exchanges and be more aggressive than ever. At the ATP 250 in Brisbane in January, the only tournament he has played in the past 12 months, he stuck to the plan against Dominic Thiem And Jason Kublerbut the pain returned as a rival, Jordan Thompson, lengthened the rallies. The strategy has become more difficult in recent days because he was unable to practice his serve due to a contracture, but he has enough tennis. The hardest thing is to continue to comply.

“We’re trying to get it into his head.”

“I hope I can not demand of myself what I have demanded of myself throughout my career,” he wrote on Instagram a few weeks ago, and his coach: Carlos Moya, highlighted the problem. “As much as we try to drill it into his head, when he gets on the track, he becomes a competitive animal. “A big part of my job and the team’s job is to stop him,” the coach admitted, referring to the number: 10 games. Before you win and even enjoy, 10 games. After previous injuries, Nadal always won immediately, but this time it requires running, rhythm, and preliminary training.

In fact, the goal now is not to win Indian Wells at all. It’s just about playing as many games as possible. His opponent in the first round at dawn from Thursday to Friday (3:00 am, Eurosport) is Canadian Milos RaonicIt is expected that another experienced tennis player, burdened by his body, will be favorable, but we will see. If Nadal wins, he will advance to the second round. Holger Runafriend of the Alcaraz generation and Jannik Sinner at 20 years old, currently seven in the world.

Introduce him later before Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals, Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals or Alcaraz or Sinner in the final – this is too much. The only goal is to continue testing myself and stay safe and sound for the clay tour. There are still two and a half months before the start of Roland Garros on May 20, but another break now would be a disaster.

Clay court tour

After Indian Wells, Nadal will not attend the Miami Masters 1000, but his schedule will be busy. He has already confirmed his presence at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 and the Conde de Godó Trophy in Barcelona, ​​where Alcaraz, Zverev and Tsitsipas will also be present, and it remains to be seen whether he will register for the Mutua Madrid Open and Rome. Masters 1000. If he does, he will play four tournaments in less than a month and quite possibly play the 10 previous matches needed to start Roland Garros. Yes, there, in Paris, the time will come to give it your all.

“Obviously Roland Garros has always been his favorite tournament, a tournament that he cares about a lot,” his coach Moya said of the key goal. At 37, a fifteenth title in Paris could prompt him to register for the Olympic Games, which will be held on the same slopes, and reconsider retiring. But to achieve this, we first need to solve the problem: how to carefully deal with Nadal?