No crisis for clay king Rafa
Claycour t k ing Rafael Nadal last night insisted his shock quarter- f inal defeat to Dominic Thiem at the Madrid Open isn’t a crisis moment.
The loss ended a year-long winning streak on clay and cost him his world No.1 ranking.
The 31-year- old seemed unstoppable having won 50 straight sets on the red dirt but was well beaten 7-5 6-3.
It was the Austrian who last beat him on clay, at the Rome Masters a year ago shortly before Nadal cruised to a 10th French Open title.
However, the Spaniard quickly shot down any notion that world number seven Thiem knows his game plan.
He said: “Three weeks ago I beat him 6- 0 6- 3. I don’t know if that’s a tough player or not.
“If he beats me three times in a row maybe we can say he reads my game.”
Nadal will now focus on next week’s tournament in Rome aiming to reclaim his world No.1 ranking. A win in Italy will see long-time rival Roger Federer fall to second spot after opting to miss the entire clay court season.
On the Swiss legend, Nadal said: “You cannot be No.1 when you’ve been not been playing for five months.
“This year till now I had only played in one or two tournaments, this is the reality of the year.
“I’m not going to keep the No.1 but at the end of the year we will see.”
Nadal has had an injuryplauged season with longterm knee and hip issues.
He returned to action in April, winning both the Monte Carlo and Barcelona titles for a record 11th time.
Despite being off- key against Thiem, he said he was now fully fit and healthy.
He said: “What makes me happy is I feel fit, I can now compete every single week.
“My final goal is to be happy so that’s what I’m working on.”