Nadal denies early loss in Rome to save energy for Roland Garros

The Spanish tennis player calmly accepted defeat at the Rome Masters, having a positive outlook towards Roland Garros.

"I never looked at Monte-Carlo, Barcelona or Rome as preparation for Roland Garros. Each tournament brings a lot of emotions to me," Nadal shared in response to rumors that he did not play at his best in the Rome Masters quarter-finals to focus on winning his 10th title in Paris.

Nadal has been in great form this year with 17 consecutive wins and three championships, including two Masters. But yesterday, May 19, the "king" of clay was defeated by 23-year-old Dominic Thiem.

The Austrian successfully avenged his two recent defeats to Nadal in the Barcelona and Madrid finals. The world number four admitted that "Thiem played better than me today".

He added: "Every tournament is important to me. Obviously I didn't play at my best in this match. Because I've played so many matches recently, it's not easy to maintain my best form in every match."

"Someday you're unlucky, and your opponent plays unbelievable, so it's normal to lose," Nadal stressed. "Tomorrow I'll go to Mallorca to fish, play golf or something. It's as simple as that."

Nadal was sad to have to leave early in Rome, but not too disappointed, believing that he had played very well since the beginning of the clay season. Photo: Reuters.

Nadal said he was a little disappointed not to win the Rome Masters for the eighth time in his career, but could not have asked for more after such great success on clay this year.

"I'm happy with what I've done in the last four weeks. I think I deserve a little rest. I'll start training again on Monday or Tuesday for Roland Garros," Nadal said.

Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the year and the only one on clay, starts on May 28.

According to VNE