TORONTO- In a press conference yesterday, one of the crowd favourites preferred to let his game speak for itself.
Known for his emotional displays on the court, Rafael Nadal was coy with reporters about the bravado that he brings to the court.
“I don’t have an opinion about that,” he said. “You can have an opinion, everybody can, but not me,” he said. “I’m not the best for this. Maybe I’m a little bit shy. Because I don’t want to speak about me.”
What Nadal did speak about (albeit reluctantly) is the anticipated dream final between himself and the ATP No. 1 seed, Roger Federer.
“I’ve answered this question a lot of times,” he said when asked to explain the rivalry. “Maybe it’s good for tennis because the public can become interested.”
The youngster said that it isn’t so much about beating Federer, as it is about making strides in his own game.
“Roger is one of the best in history for sure, so I’m not trying to compete against him, no,” he said. “I am trying to improve for myself and I’m trying to play good, improve my game, so that’s very important for me. I’m maybe five years younger than him, so I need to improve my game.”
With Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick bowing out of the tournament in Toronto, Nadal and Federer are clearly the pair that the crowd came to see.
“I’m young and so I’m not thinking about number one and not thinking about beating Federer,” Nadal said. “I’m just thinking about my game and how I need to improve the serve, I need to improve with a little bit more playing, a little bit of practice.”
Although he stressed how he could further develop his skills, the Spaniard has tasted success in Canada before. He won the Rogers Cup last year in Montreal. He said that while the two tourneys are in the same country, there are still differences between the two.
“The court is a little bit different, it’s similar, but one is a little bit faster,” he said. “I lost here in the first round two years ago, and I hope this year is not the same, so I want to play good.”
Nadal was involved in a car accident after Wimbledon, but said that it wasn’t a big deal. While his body wasn’t broken in the fender bender, his heart certainly was when Spain exited the World Cup soccer tournament earlier than expected.
“It was a disappointing moment for everyone, you know. We had big expectations, we were playing very god matches in the qualifying round and after we lost against France you know. So we always suffer bad luck.”
Nadal said that he is looking forward to the European Cup in two years and in the meantime will focus on tennis, starting with Toronto and his first-round opponent Nicolas Massu.
“And the first match is always very difficult and I’m playing against a very good player, Massu,” he said. “So it’s important, that first match. So we’ll see.”
