“We Had The Toughest Situation Possible” – Rafael Nadal Blames ATP Cup 2020 Scheduling

World Number one Rafael Nadal dealt with a straight-sets defeat in the singles tier of ATP Cup 2020 quarterfinals. He surrendered to David Goffin 6-4, 7-6(3) and later won the doubles tier after battling past the Belgians. With that victory Team Spain is through to the semifinals of ATP Cup.

Perth to Sydney transition for Spain

In the post-match press conference, Rafa did not seem happy with the tournament’s scheduling. Firstly, the round-robin matches were held in three different cities namely, Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney. Later the knock-out rounds were scheduled in Sydney.

In the case of Spain, they first played in Perth and then they traveled to Sydney. The team had to tackle the changes in the court conditions from one city to another. Also, the cities lie in different time zones.

“Tough because for us it was a big change from Perth to here. Not too much time to adapt. The conditions here have been very heavy, big humidity and playing against big players against David in singles and then the doubles have always been a very difficult thing,” Rafael Nadal said.

The Belgians had an advantage

The Belgians stayed in Sydney from the inception of the tournament. They seemed to be comfortable with the conditions during the quarterfinal encounter.

“They’ve (Belgium) been here for 10 days, for us it’s the first day. Well done for them, they played a great tie, great tennis. I tried my best in the singles, it wasn’t possible but we were able to win the doubles and we’re super happy to be in the semi-finals,” he added.

David Goffin Stuns a Struggling Rafael Nadal in Straight Sets at the ATP Cup 2020

On Friday Team Spain finished with their matches around 10 pm (local time). In less than 24 hours they have there semifinal matches scheduled against the home-favourite Team Australia.  It is difficult for Team Spain to recover within such a less time frame. 

“We had the toughest situation possible in the whole ATP Cup and were the last team to come from Perth with a three-hour time change, arriving so late two nights ago and finishing today again at 10 past 1. We won’t be sleeping before 4 in the morning. That’s an issue,” the World Number one tennis player elaborated.

Challenging semifinals for the Spaniards: Spain vs Australia

Ahead of the semifinal clash against Australia, Rafa mentioned that they are a tough team to play. At ATP Cup they just dropped one match against Great Britain. The Aussies saved four match points in the doubles tier, and then entered the semifinals of the tournament.

“But here we are. We’re trying hard. We’re excited to be in Sydney. Tomorrow is a very tough one against Australia but we’re going to try our best as we did all of our careers,” Rafa concluded.

On Saturday, Rafael Nadal will play Alex De Minaur at the semifinals of the ATP Cup. His compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut will take on Nick Kyrgios. The Aussie player Kyrgios has been undefeated in the tournament. So far he has dropped one service game and has slammed a monumental total of 57 aces.