Rafael Nadal pleads with French Open organisers to schedule his quarter-final match against Novak Djokovic in the day, as he complains that the ‘ball is slower’ at night – and legend hints it could be his last at Roland Garros
- Rafael Nadal is the defending French Open champion, and has won 13 times
- He next faces Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros but wants a change in conditions
- Currently, the two greats are set to do battle under the lights on Tuesday night
- Nadal has appealed to the organisers to instead move their match to the day
Rafael Nadal has pleaded with the organisers of the French Open to schedule his quarter-final clash with Novak Djokovic during the day, and admitted that the star-studded match-up could be his last ever at Roland Garros.
Veteran Nadal is the defending champion of the Grand Slam, which he has won 13 times, but has struggled to fully recover from a foot injury which threatens to bring the curtain down on his illustrious career.
However, he was able to battle through the discomfort across five sets to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last-16, and that victory set up his meeting with Djokovic.
Rafael Nadal has pleaded with the French Open to change his Novak Djokovic clash to the day
Currently, the game is set to be played under the lights tomorrow, although Nadal has said he would prefer to put on a show in different conditions.
‘The match with Djokovic could be my last here and I know Roland Garros by day and I would prefer to play by day,’ he told reporters.
‘I don’t have a [recent] test against him because my last match against him was here last year I think, so I didn’t play this kind of match for the last three months.
The two greats will face each other again this week, but Nadal wants a change in conditions
‘It’s going to be a big challenge for me. I think he’s already won the last nine matches in a row, winning in Rome and now winning here in straight sets every match.
‘He will be confident.
‘I know what my situation is and I accept it well, and I’m going to fight for it. I can’t complain much, I am in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros.
‘Two-and-a-half weeks ago, even if I had good hopes, positive hopes after Rome, I didn’t even know if I would be able to be here.
Nadal also said the match may be final ever at Roland Garros with his injuries taking their toll
‘So I’m just enjoying the fact that I am here for one more year and, being honest, every match that I play here I don’t know if it’s going to be my last match here in Roland Garros in my tennis career. That’s my situation now.
‘Of course I went through a tough process again with my foot so I don’t know what can happen in the near future with my career.
‘But that’s why I’m just trying to enjoy as much as possible and fight as much as I can to keep living the dream that is keeping playing tennis and being back in a very advanced round of Roland Garros playing against the world number one.
Ahead of facing Djokovic at Roland Garros, Nadal pointed to the ball being slower at night
‘That’s it, I hope to be able to give myself a chance to play at the highest level possible and then let’s see.’
Nadal was quizzed on why he does not like playing at night, and pointed to the humidity taking its toll, as well as the pace of the ball being slower.
He said: ‘I don’t like to play on clay during the night because the humidity is higher, the ball is slower, and there can be very heavy conditions especially when it’s cold.’
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