American tennis star Tommy Paul had a special day. He registered victory against one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Playing against Rafael Nadal for only the second time in his career, the 25-year-old defeated the 22-time Grand Slam champion in three sets. While the match was intense, the American has played earlier also against the Spanish legend.

The two have clashed once earlier, but adding to that, Paul also played a practice match against the legend. However, he believes that there’s a big difference between facing him at practice and in a match. Here’s what he said.

Difference between practicing with Nadal and facing him in a match

Tommy Paul had the chance of practicing with Nadal before the first time he clashed with the legend. It was at the quarterfinal of the Mexican Open this year. He was quick to understand the difference between facing him in practice and actually facing him in a match. He said, “Practising with him is super different because he hits a lot harder in practice. He really hits through the court and then in matches, the balls just jump a lot more. He hits slower but heavier. It’s different.” 

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Paul further added, “Obviously he uses his lefty spin to his advantage as much as he can and everyone knows he’s Rafa, he’s not ever going to give up even if he looks like he’s out of the match, so that’s always tricky. It should be fun playing him.”

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Seems like, in the Paris Masters, the American was fully prepared for what to expect from Nadal, and it surely helped.

Rafael Nadal aims for ATP Tour Finals next

Nadal has played only a few matches in the recent past. The 36-year-old played only one doubles game after his fourth-round exit in the US Open. He paired up with retiring legend Roger Federer in the Laver Cup.

After this defeat, Nadal has his full focus on the year-end ATP Finals. Speaking after the match at Paris Masters, the 36-year-old accepted that he has not spent enough time on the tour in the last five months. However, world number two said that he will try his best to win the ATP Finals in Turin.

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Serbian tennis great Novak Djokovic has also qualified for the event and it will be interesting to see if the two greats clash one more time.