Rafael Nadal will set his sights on winning a 10th French Open title, after a day of “fishing or golf”, following his shock defeat to Dominic Thiem in the Rome Masters quarterfinals on Friday.
Nadal, a former seven-time champion in the Italian capital, had dominated the Austrian to win the Madrid Masters final last week.
But the Spanish fourth seed had no answer to the eighth seed’s aggressive approach and impressive range of shots on a shocked centre court as Thiem raced to a 6-4, 6-3 victory in 1hr 51 minutes, ending Nadal’s 17-match winning run.
Nadal, meanwhile, said he intends to have a free weekend before ramping up his preparations for Roland Garros from Monday.
“Tomorrow I’ll be in Mallorca fishing or playing golf, or another thing. I’m going to rest a little bit, I think I deserve it,” said Nadal.
“Then from Monday and Tuesday I will start to prepare for Roland Garros. It’s an important event for me.
“If you do things well, you have more chances in Roland Garros. I hope to play my best tennis in Roland Garros.”
Avenging defeat
Before the two-hour mark, Thiem avenged his Madrid Masters defeat, breaking Nadal in their final game when the Spaniard hit a wayward return.
“I didn’t play very well,” added Nadal. “I want to congratulate him because he was better than me this afternoon.
“Great, in all aspects. He played long, he played very aggressive, hitting the ball very strong with high intensity.
“In general I was not able to push him back. He got a lot of points, maximum, more times than me. And that’s the key of this game. It’s obvious I didn’t play my best match.”
Nadal suggested the intensity of a clay court season that has seen him play his best tennis on the surface for the past two years had been to blame.
“I’ve been playing a lot. It’s difficult, every day. Madrid then Rome back-to-back, after Barcelona.
“It’s not easy playing every day for the last four weeks.”
