Back in 2013 Rafael Nadal played the Vina del Mar tournament in Chile. He lost to Horacio Zeballos in the final. In an interview conducted by El Mercurio the Spaniard reflected on the country and its players: "I have very nice memories from that visit."
"It was the first tournament after that an injury forced me to skip the Australian Open and I definitely felt the people from Chile were close to me. I am very grateful for how they treated me and I really feel at home. The history, culture and language are important and that's what makes us feel very close. I loved Chile and its people. I would love to be back."
Continuing on the Chilean players he met: "Christian Garin spent some time in the Academy and I think it was useful for his career too. I am very happy to have had him with us." Asked about Fernando Gonzalez, Nadal said: "He defeated me in the 2007 Australian Open quarter-finals and I also had the chance to face him in the Rome final, among the others. He was hitting the ball strong."
In the current circuit he regularly runs into Nicolas Massu: "Now I see him a lot in the tournaments since he coaches Dominic Thiem. Facing him brings always happiness"
https://twitter.com/RafaelNadal/status/1199772207133708288
Just In
Popular News
Latest Comments
- Who is making up these rankings btw?
AceOfBase23-11-2024 - Paolini remarkably low. Must have won tons of matches against lower ranked players. Kind of like these rankings. Seem to be more fair.MrAndreeva23-11-2024
- Why does Tennisuptodate feel like her PR Department's constant deluge of daily/weekly media submissions are 'tennis news' ?
mandoist19-11-2024 - 'Apologies', in cases like this where people are caught being their True Selves, are best shoved up their butts.mandoist19-11-2024
- Paolini playing Swiatek and then has to come back an hour later to play doubles. The BJ Cup is like the rest of tennis entrepreneurs.PalopoDave18-11-2024
