French Open 2018: Rafael Nadal must be aggressive, says three-time Roland Garros champion Mats Wilander
Rafael Nadal needs to play more aggressively if he is to claim a record-extending 11th French Open title as a pack of young wolves is breathing down his neck, according to three-time Roland Garros champion Mats Wilander.
Paris: Rafael Nadal needs to play more aggressively if he is to claim a record-extending 11th French Open title as a pack of young wolves is breathing down his neck, according to three-time Roland Garros champion Mats Wilander.
The top-seeded Spaniard had to save four set points against Simone Bolelli before wrapping up a 6-4 6-3 7-6(9) victory in a first-round match that spanned over two days because of rain.
“I think that it wasn’t that great, he was a little too passive but Simone Bolelli played an excellent match,” Swede Wilander, in Paris as a consultant for Eurosport, told Reuters on Tuesday.
'I’m not sure long matches is a good thing for him,' says Mats Wilander on Rafael Nadal's passive play in opening round. Reuters
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“But I think Nadal knows how to win matches when he is too passive. He was expecting Bolelli to miss I think. Again, it’s about winning and he seems to be able to win when he’s too passive.
“He’s the greatest match player of all time on the day and he respects his opponents so much that it makes him nervous and tense and tight.”
That style of play may be fine for a first-round match, but the 16-time Grand Slam champion will need to make adjustments to preserve his freshness.
“But if he plays like in other matches it means he’s going to have long matches and I’m not sure long matches is a good thing for him,” said Wilander, who won Roland Garros in 1982, 1985 and 1988.
“He needs to risk a little more and risk losing a set because it’s a long two weeks and he needs to be fresh because against (German Alexander) Zverev and these guys you need to be fresh.”
Although he has yet to make it past the fourth round of a major, second seed Alexander Zverev has dramatically improved since the Australian Open.
He needed just 69 minutes to see off Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis in straight sets on Sunday, while Nadal’s match lasted almost three hours.
Nadal, however, knows when to go for the throat and he showed just that against Bolelli.
“On those four set points, that’s when he went for it, he’s such a genius,” said Wilander.
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