I am not 100 percent fit before my debut in Madrid – Rafael Nadal

Madrid. Rafael Nadal will play at the Madrid Open despite not being fully fit and not looking very optimistic about his chances of being ready for the French Open later this month. Nadal said on Wednesday that if he Will arrive feeling as he felt before his debut in Madrid this week so he will not play in Paris. “The sensations have not been right this week. If it wasn’t for Madrid, I probably wouldn’t play. But there are a lot of emotions involved,” Nadal said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next three weeks. I’m going to keep fighting and keep doing the things I think I need to do to play in Paris. And if it’s possible, it’s possible. If not, then no. I’m not going to play in Paris the way I feel today. If it was Paris I wouldn’t be playing.”

Nadal, 37, has said this is probably his farewell year on the tour and he is looking forward to competing for the last time at Roland Garros, where he is a 14-time champion. The 22-time Grand Slam winner has won a record five times in Madrid His last title in the Spanish capital came in 2017. He is scheduled to make his debut on Thursday against 16-year-old American Darwin Blanch. “Hopefully I can play without many limitations,” Nadal said. “Then we will see what happens. If I play without limitations, even if I lose, it will be positive.Nadal, who had hip surgery last summer, lost to Alex de Minaur in the second round in Barcelona, ​​the first in more than three months. It was his first tournament. “The goal is to be on the court. Enjoy it while you can,” he said.

“I mean, that’s the point. Try to finish the tournament lively in case of body problems, and enjoy the fact that I will be able to compete once more in the professional tour and at home here in Madrid, a place that gives me everything “No, in terms of support.” He said he is giving himself “a chance” and hopes to “find better feelings” in his body in the future. “I don’t lose hope. “I accept the situation I’m in today,” he said. “I mean, I’m not playing bad. It’s more about the limitations of the body.” “The body’s feelings are not good enough for me to feel myself playing freely in terms of physical problems,” he said. “It doesn’t allow me to compete that way. Didn’t get the way I wanted to compete.”