USA: TENNIS - U.S. Open defending champion Rafael Nadal is far from his best in first round match against Andrey Golubev but still manages to win in straight sets

Record ID: 1532743

  • Title: USA: TENNIS - U.S. Open defending champion Rafael Nadal is far from his best in first round match against Andrey Golubev but still manages to win in straight sets
  • Date: 2nd September 2011
  • Summary: FLUSHING MEADOWS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 30, 2011) (REUTERS) U.S. OPEN DEFENDING CHAMPION RAFAEL NADAL PRACTICING BEFORE HIS FIRST ROUND MATCH AGAINST ANDREY GOLUBEV OF KAZAKHSTAN FANS WATCHING NADAL PRACTICE FANS WAITING OUTSIDE PRACTICE COURTS FOR NADAL NADAL WALKING OUT OF PRACTICE AND APPROACHING FANS TO SIGN AUTOGRAPHS NADAL SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS NADAL WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE AFTER DEFEATING GOLUBEV REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAFAEL NADAL, U.S. OPEN DEFENDING CHAMPION, SAYING: "Its normal to start the tournament like this with some nerves and that what happened today. He didn't help because he played very fast all the time. All the shots, he was trying to do a winner in almost every shot. So it was difficult for me to find the rhythm. But it's a positive start winning in straight sets, even if it was unbelievable that I won in straight sets." REPORTERS AND A PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAFAEL NADAL, U.S. OPEN DEFENDING CHAMPION, SAYING: "The confidence is just because I didn't practice enough, is just because for sure when you are having tough losses like the final of Wimbledon, your illusion goes down a little bit and you need to recuperate that after. I am playing with very high illusion here, high motivation. But I need time. Everybody knows it's not easy to lose five finals even if I was losing that finals, I was keep doing well. I lost the final, but next week I was in another final and next week in another final." NADAL TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAFAEL NADAL, U.S. OPEN DEFENDING CHAMPION, SAYING: "Seriously I'm very happy. I arrived here, I started to practice here on Monday, and since the first day that I was practice here, my feelings was much better than the previous tournaments. I think the conditions help me little but more. But I didn't win a tournament. I didn't win a lot of matches. But I practiced during that two weeks with top-level players. So that's for sure help me to be in better conditions to arrive here. And for sure that's going to improve." NADAL TALKING TO REPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 17th September 2011 11:42
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVAE79KXL0QQTO4KDT2SPXIUQQKI
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: U.S. Open defending champion Rafael Nadal saved seven set points in the second set and battled back from two breaks down in the third to beat Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3 7-6 7-5 on Tuesday (August 30) in his opening match at the U.S. Open.
    Nadal was far from his best but raised his game at critical points, reeling off the last five games in succession to subdue the surprising Golubev, who came to Flushing Meadows with a 6-24 record this year.
    Golubev dictated points by moving inside the baseline to slash ground strokes into both corners and make deft use of the drop shot against the French Open champion. Ten times grand slam winner Nadal showed his championship class in roaring back from 2-5 down in the third set after winning the second-set tiebreak 7-1.
    "It's normal to start the tournament like this with some nerves and that what happened today. He (Golubev) didn't help because he played very fast all the time. All the shots, he was trying to do a winner in almost every shot. So it was difficult for me to find the rhythm. But it's a positive start winning in straight sets, even if it was unbelievable that I won in straight sets," Nadal told reporters at a news conference after the match.
    Last year, Nadal completed his personal grand slam after working tirelessly on his serve, turning a shot that had been a weakness into a weapon. His serve was broken just five times in the seven matches he played last year. Against Golubev, ranked 98th in the world, his serve was broken six times.
    Nadal also reflected on the challenging year he's had so far -- reaching several finals of the big tournaments but failing to snatch victory.
    The Spaniard said that after losing at Wimbledon, his confidence had suffered for a while.
    "The confidence is just because I didn't practice enough, is just because for sure when you are having tough losses like the final of Wimbledon, your illusion goes down a little bit and you need to recuperate that after," he said, adding that he did have high motivation while beginning play at the U.S. Open tournament.
    Nadal said he was feeling more confident that at previous tournaments in the year as he had had more time to practice with top-level players.
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