ATP Tour - Nadal to play at Queen's

Eurosport - Fri, 10 Apr 11:24:00 2009

World number one and defending champion Rafael Nadal has confirmed his intention to play at Queen's in June.

TENNIS 2009 Rafa Nadal entrenamiento - 0

Nadal, who has won the French Open, Wimbledon, an Olympic gold medal and Australian Open over the past 12 months, joins Britain's Andy Murray in signing up early to play at Queen's which starts on June 8.

The Spaniard said he was looking forward to it.

"It is nice to come back to a place where you are the last champion," he said. "To arrive as the last champion is going to be a really nice experience."

Nadal won last year's title against Novak Djokovic 7-6 7-5 and then went on to triumph in an epic Wimbledon final, beating Roger Federer in a match former champion John McEnroe described as the greatest ever played.

He also became the first player to win the French Open, Queen's and Wimbledon in the same year and says he still cannot believe he was able to leave the clay courts of Roland Garros with the trophy, arrive the following day in London, and switch surfaces so successfully.

"It was amazing," Nadal said. "It was totally unexpected for me to win after winning at Roland Garros. I arrived and all I had was one day to adapt to grass. But I played really, really good tennis. I played relaxed, without pressure and I played really well."

Nadal then went on to beat Federer 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 9-7 in the longest Wimbledon final and says he recently watched a recording of it for the first time.

"I remember I had a lot of nerves the night before the match," he said. "And then, during the match there were a lot of emotions.

"In the beginning, I had the match (under control) and I had match points. But he came back very good in the third and fourth sets and had the break point in the fifth set at 4-3.

"He had his chance there. I saw the match on TV for the first time last week. It was really amazing."

Reuters

Comment 3 - 22 of 22

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  1. I love anybody that love these three (rafa, venus and­ serena)I became a tennis fan because of them. They have­ taken the sport to another level alltogether and make­ it exciting and even more popular than ever before. If­ they are not in a turnamment, I feel it's­ incomplete and almost boring. They've got great­ competitive spirit.

    From Yazmin, on Sat 11 Apr 8:52PM

  2. Love Rafa and Serena and Venus!

    From Vic M, on Fri 10 Apr 7:46PM

  3. Venus is the best player in the world. Why does people­ not like the williams' sisters. They should be­ appreciated. They alone are the tennis players that are­ keeping the WTA WATCHABLE. Sorry if you want to watch­ junior quality tennis. SUPPORT VENUS. I think at the­ monet she is the only one worthy of a Grand slam at­ Rolland Garros she has work consistently hard. SHE­ SHOULD AND WILL WIN ROLLAND GARROS

    From B, on Fri 10 Apr 7:07PM

  4. A BRAND NEW ROLAND GARROS BY 2012!FRENCH FEDERATION­ TENNIS PRESIDENT Jean Gachassin announced tha a new­ CENTRE COURT WITH A RETRACTABLE ROOF WILL BE BUILT to­ make sure that the French Open does not move to Madrid­ in the near future.The whole Roland Garros will be­ enlarged(with new courts among others).There 4­ architects to choose from.Building licence to be­ obtained before end of 2009.Construction should be­ starting beginning of 2010 and ending in 2012.

    From Jeremy, on Fri 10 Apr 7:05PM

  5. It's good to hear you're coming back to play at­ Queens,i'm looking forward for it.
    And GOODLUCK­ RAFA for all your games on clay,you're simply­ amazing...God bless

    From Arlie, on Fri 10 Apr 4:46PM

  6. Nowadays Nadal is the best player in the world.­ He'll win again Roland Garros and Wimbledon.­ I'm sure that he'll be the best player of ever

    From Daniel OLiveira, on Fri 10 Apr 12:29PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    It is easier to make it to the top than staying at the­ top.Nobody can argue the fact that Nadal is the best­ tennis player now in the world.But one thing is true­ about the future:after being there for some time and­ being too confident as Federer was,Nadal too will start­ to experience the same surprises that and feel the­ similar pinches like Federer is feeling now.This is­ because he is now becoming the only one to be­ challenged in every players mind and tactics against­ his playing style will soon be developed but until­ then,he is somehow very difficult to be beaten.I­ strongly believe that Nadal will not be able to win­ many trophies this year on clay as he did because all­ attentions are now on him,Murray,Del Potro and Verdasco­ who are like very successful at the start of this­ season and this is going to help Federer too much as he­ might maximise this opportunity and a unleach some­ great surprises especially in Roland Garos.

    From BRITISH GUY, on Fri 10 Apr 12:02PM

  8. if nadal keep his motivation and current level of play,­ he will be unstoppable this year! i still believe that­ murray is not enough mentally strong to achieve­ something more than semi at Wimbledon!under the­ expectation he will fail again as he did in the last­ yer`s US open final! Federer just blown him out!

    From kareevivan1000, on Fri 10 Apr 10:20AM

  9. onething about rafa he have a really good attitude in­ terms of lossing he never lost he's cool thats make­ him a really great tennis player,kept up the good work­ rafa goodluck to all your games,

    From jhecks, on Thu 9 Apr 11:52PM

  10. faeelisbethcoleman,they are two of my favourite matches­ also,i like Rafa,but i am a real Fed fan,those two­ matches have set the benchmark,in modern tennis,drama­ at its best,with the ebb and flow of each set.The truth­ be told they are really nice guys,and they get on quite­ well.i have been lucky enough to watch them both­ play,live,and its a real pleasure.Lets hope we have­ plenty more.

    From carlos480bc, on Thu 9 Apr 10:32PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Grand Finale last year it was Nadal: Novak.. I expect­ the same this year, but hope slightly different ending­ ;-)

    From Igor K, on Thu 9 Apr 7:14PM

  12. Ah Rafa I often wonder if tennis players rewatch their­ good wins especially in such a dramatic final, that was­ the best tennis match I have ever seen, even better­ than Romes 5 setter, I love the matches rafa has had­ with Roger especially the ones that Rafa won of course.­ But wimbeldon well that'll be hard to beat. Best of­ Luck Rafa for the clay season, hope you get off to a­ great start by winning monte-carlo. Your the best­ Rafa, hope you find your best form in the up and coming­ weeks just like last year. Love you RAFAEL­ NADAL..........

    From faeelisabethcoleman, on Thu 9 Apr 7:14PM

  13. vamos rafaaa

    From nino, on Thu 9 Apr 6:12PM

  14. cant wait to see nadal play, hes always producing world­ class tennis..its fun, interesting,and anticipating to­ watch each of his match, he puts his heart and soul to­ it..all the best this year

    From Jumoke Toyin oduntan odebiyi, on Thu 9 Apr 6:07PM

  15. congrats to azarenka...wishing serena a quick recovery,­ hope to see her back in her best play for the remaining­ season, as well as venus....all the best

    From Jumoke Toyin oduntan odebiyi, on Thu 9 Apr 6:05PM

  16. where is sharapova..we are missing her, hope she comes­ back to play tennis

    From Jumoke Toyin oduntan odebiyi, on Thu 9 Apr 6:03PM

  17. i agree,venus will win ...no,it's serena ,hum,tough­ one

    From coolworld, on Thu 9 Apr 5:45PM

  18. sure he will,no need to hope for nadal,the best on clay­ by far,and now,new best on grass,i,for one hope­ it's another grandiose final against federer,and­ euh,sorry,may federer win this time ?

    From coolworld, on Thu 9 Apr 5:43PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Does anyone think Venus Williams is the only hope of a­ dominant female world number 1? I think she could do­ it!! Also i think she is a definate to win Wimbledon­ and the U.S Open. And even with her winning ACAPULCO­ against clay cout specialists shows she can do it. Does­ anyone agee?

    From B, on Thu 9 Apr 5:41PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Well I won't be watching!

    From plumpot77, on Thu 9 Apr 5:30PM
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