Nadal believes his best is yet to come following third-round victory in Paris: "I could do better, I should do better"
ATP
Top seed Rafael Nadal continued his push for his first Paris Masters title on Thursday, as he defeated Australian Jordan Thompson to advance to the quarterfinals.
A day after recording his 1,000th ATP match-win, the Spaniard edged past his Aussie opponent 6-1 7-6(3) to reach his eighth quarterfinal at the event.
"I think I played a good first set. A lot of good shots, good winners, serving well. And then in the second, I was not able to find a way to get the break," Nadal said post-match. "He started to serve very well, I think, and I missed a couple of returns that I could do better, I should do better."
Although the World No.2 breezed through the first set, Thompson fought back to earn a set point in the second. However, Nadal dictated play to force a tiebreak and emerged victorious after an hour and 33 minutes.
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"I think he increased a lot his level in the second set. He played well, so I give credit to him," Nadal added. "I only faced one break point with my serve during the whole match, but it was a set point, and a tough one. That's a positive thing with my serve. And on return I think I did it very well in the first and I could do it better in the second. I found a way.
"In the tie-break I saved a couple of break points. Second point of the tie-break had huge importance, too. [Reaching the] quarter-finals, that's the most important thing for me. I'm happy."
The Spaniard will face compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals, as the ninth seed defeated qualifier Norbert Gombos 7-5 6-2 earlier in the day.
"I need to be ready to play my best against an opponent that I know is playing well and with confidence," Nadal said. "I hope to be ready to play my game and really read well, because that's what I'm going to need."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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