“I (am) gonna try my very best every single day to be ready for that” – Disappointed Nadal looks ahead to US Open

Rafael Nadal returned to action on Wednesday for the first time since the abdominal tear he suffered forced him to pull out of the Wimbledon semi-finals but was knocked out in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.

Given the five-week gap between this and his last event, Nadal was rusty at times as expected and Borna Coric, a former world No 12 who is working his way back up the ranks after a shoulder surgery last year, ousted the 22-time Grand Slam winner 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 57 minutes.

The entire match saw just three break points- Nadal converting his only one and Coric converting one of two and while Nadal saw a few positives from the match, he is well aware that he will have to get better if he wants to contend for the US Open title later this month.

“Obviously a lot of times coming back from injuries I did positive things, but in this particular case, it’s obvious that I was not ready enough to win the match today, and, as I said, credit to Borna that he played brave. He served, I think, well,” Nadal said in his press conference.

“I mean, easy to say that if you are not able to play a little bit more aggressive that the circumstances and to take a little bit advantage and opportunities, then these kind of things happens. You lose. You move forward. I know the way. The main thing for me is stay healthy. Have been difficult injury to manage, to be honest. The last month and a half haven’t been easy, because having a tear on the abdominal, you don’t know when is 100% over the thing, so that affects a little bit in terms of not sure if you are able to try your best in every serve. So I say before the tournament, no, I need to take step by step, and happened, and that’s it. Well done for him.”

The Spaniard said while he has recovered from his injury, he is still cautious as he does not want to re-injure himself.

“Because when you have scar, then the line is very thin. When is because the scar don’t have enough flexibility, then you feel it. But you don’t know if you feel it because of that or if because something are not going well. So you need to take care in every single moment. So I probably gonna do some test after here to confirm that everything stays the way that we want. But that’s it, no? I am positive. I was able to have a week of practice here, trying my best in every single day, practicing days better, practicing much better than the way that I played today, honestly.”

Nadal added that he now hopes to move into what he called “Grand Slam” mode and will use the extra time this week to practice harder with an eye on the US Open.

“In terms of practice, I need to start to be in a Grand Slam mode, practicing the way that I need to practice to be competitive since the beginning there, and I hope I will be able to make that happen. In terms of New York, I don’t know. It’s a Grand Slam. It’s a different kind of tournament. But at the same time it’s tennis, no? If I am not playing well, probably I will follow the same route than here. But I know the way that I have to do to gain a different condition. I need to move forward and just start to think about the energy that the crowd give me in New York. I know it’s a very special place for me, and I enjoy it, unforgettable moments there, and I gonna try my very best every single day to be ready for that.”

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