Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Wimbledon 2014: Rafael Nadal takes the positives from defeat to Nick Kyrgios


Rafael Nadal: Has not been past the fourth round at Wimbledon since 2011
The 19-year-oldAustralian overpowered the two-time champion on Centre Court to clinch a 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win and a place in the quarter-finals.
Rafael Nadal claimed to be satisfied with his Wimbledon campaign after suffering a shock fourth-round defeat to Nick Kyrgios.
Kyrgios served 37 aces and hit 70 winners during the course of the contest, but only broke Nadal’s serve on one occasion.
"It's true that my draw was not the best, all the matches were uncomfortable against players that didn't give you the opportunity to play a lot," he said.Nadal has now suffered early-round exits in each of the last three years but insists the tennis he produced this year is an improvement on his 2012 and 2013 efforts.
"I fought until the end in every single match. I was able to play some good tennis on this surface, and that's something I've not been able to do in the last two years.
"In a way I am not even angry today because I lost the match losing my serve only once in the whole match. I created my opportunities, but I was not able to read his serve.
"When you have an opponent who serves that well and hits every ball so hard, you are in trouble. I don't think I played badly, but that's the game on this surface.
"I think in the second and the third set I was better than him, but I was not able to convert opportunities - and for the rest, I think he played better .
"In general, talking about what you need to win on this surface, he did those things better than me. Congratulations to him - for me, it's the beach."
Kyrgios is a former junior world No 1 who is quickly proving his credentials in the senior game, but Nadal says he must prove himself over a longer period of time.
Nadal said: "This sport is mental a lot of the time. He has things, positive things, to be a good player. But at the end, everything is a little bit easier when you are arriving.
"Everything is new, nothing to lose; everything is good, everything is positive. You can do whatever and it will be positive, and everybody will just see the good things in you.
"When you are there yourself, the rest of the people start to see the negative things in your tennis. We'll see if he's able to improve and to play at a very high level for a long period of time.
"When we see a young player that arrives on the tour and plays a great match or tournament, people say he will be the next big star. Sometimes they are right, sometimes not.
"It depends how things improve over the next couple of months and years for him. If he is able to keep improving he will be there - if not, it will be more difficult. I wish him all the best."

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