Rafael Nadal sets alarm bells ringing ahead of Paris Olympics - 'Not comfortable'
Rafael Nadal is set to play at the Paris Olympics this summer
REUTERS
Rafael Nadal has confessed he doesn't feel 'comfortable' on the court as he prepares to play at the Paris Olympics this summer.
The Spaniard previously won Olympic gold back in 2008, when he beat Fernando Gonzalez in three sets to scoop the prize, while he also won gold in the doubles in Rio in 2016.
Nadal will go into the event on the back of a defeat, however, having lost to Nuno Borges in the final of the Bastad Open in Sweden.
Speaking after that loss on Sunday, Nadal admitted he was struggling physically as the start of the Olympics looms.
Rafael Nadal is set to play at the Paris Olympics this summer
REUTERS
"I played the final, that's positive,” he said.
“I was able to play long matches without having an injury, that's good.
"In some way I felt that I arrived here practising much better than what I played on the tournament during the whole week.
“That's something that I am not satisfied with. I arrived here with the feeling that I was playing a good level and I was not able to show that during the whole week.
"Anyway it's a final, so I can't say it's a bad result because it's the first final since a long time ago.
"But I was not able to feel myself comfortable enough during the whole week to be satisfied with the week of tennis that I played."
Nadal also admitted that playing five matches in a week had taken a toll on him.
He continued: "The level was so far from what it should be. Probably the energy too.
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"It has been a long week with long matches.
"Even if my body, I don't have damage, that's important — but mentally and physically, I am not used to playing four days in a row and playing long matches.”
As well as playing singles, Nadal is also poised to compete in the doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz is tennis' brightest prospect, having won his second Wimbledon title earlier this month with an emphatic victory over Novak Djokovic.
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Rafael Nadal previously won Olympic gold in the singles back in 2008
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And the 21-year-old can't wait to play alongside Nadal at a time when his compatriot's time in the sport is drawing to close.
"Not much. He's also doing his thing, we're doing ours. We talk very little, but when we're at the Games, we'll talk about that doubles and, above all, how we're going to do it," he said.
"I'm not nervous right now. When the time comes, I will be.
"And yes, obviously, he's already experienced this, he already knows what it's like to play in the Olympics, to win a gold in both singles and doubles.
Rafael Nadal will go into the Paris Olympics on the back of a crushing defeat at the Bastad Open
REUTERS
"I'm new, I'm the rookie here, so I have to keep my mouth shut and just listen to him.”
Andy Murray is also set to compete at the Olympics this summer. He is widely expected to retire from tennis once the competition is out of the way.