

World No.1 Rafael Nadal hits back at a journalist for insinuating that the Spaniard has lost concentration on the tennis court after his wedding with long-time girlfriend Xisca Perello last month.
Rafael Nadal’s campaign to win a maiden title at the ATP World Tour Finals 2019 got off to a worst possible start as he was demolished by defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-4 in his opening round-robin match of the Andre Agassi group.
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The match was Nadal’s first since pulling out of the Rolex Paris Masters 2019 semi-finals with an abdominal injury, which came just a few days after he tied the knot with long-time girlfriend Xisca Perello in Mallorca.

The poor play led the Italian journalist Ubaldo Scanagatta to ask Nadal in the post-match press conference if getting married to childhood girlfriend Xisca Perello mid-season has affected his concentration lately.
“Honestly, are you asking me this? Is it a serious question or is it a joke? Is it serious?” Nadal seethed.

“Okay. I surprise, it is a big surprise for me (that) you ask me this after I have been with the same girl for 15 years and having a very stable and normal life. Doesn’t matter if you put a ring on your finger or not. In my personal way, I am a very normal guy,” Nadal further added.
Maybe for you were – how many years have you been with your (partner)?” The Mallorcan questioned the journalist.
The journalist then explained how he had been married for 30 years before the 33-year-old hit back: “And before? Ah, maybe before you were not sure. That’s why (smiling). Okay.”

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The 19-time Grand Slam winner took serious offense and refused to answer any more questions in English – “Okay. We move to Spanish because that’s bullish*t. Thank you very much.”
Some fair play from Rafa here. pic.twitter.com/rnYXrlBEPn
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 12, 2019
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Nadal is locked in a battle with Novak Djokovic for the year-end No.1 and will have to win every match to get his chances against the Serbian, who started off with the 2019 ATP Finals with a straight-sets victory over Matteo Berrettini.
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