Rafael Nadal impressed the tennis world once again yesterday, when he managed to engineer a come-back win against Daniil Medvedev, when he was 5-1 down in the deciding set. The Spanish player managed to keep his hopes of qualifying out of the group stage at the Nitto ATP Finals alive as a result and continues to have a good chance of ending the year as the No. 1 player in the world.
Nadal offered some advice to young tennis players after the match, highlighting the fact that his great come-back should not be the most important lesson they should draw from his performance:
The comeback is not what is important for young kids to learn. The important part is not to break a racquet when you are down 5-1 or to discourage yourself.
Rafael Nadal has been famous throughout his entire career for his mental toughness and for the way he carries himself on court. He continued in the post-match press conference, mentioning that there were parts of the match when he felt that Medvedev was definitely the better player, but was not discourage because of that:
You have to stay positive, you have to stay on court, accept that the opponent is playing a little better than you, and that you are not that good. That's the only example. Because sometimes the frustration comes when you believe and you consider yourself too good and you do not accept the mistakes that you are making
Rafael Nadal is going to face Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday in a decisive match for his place in the semifinals of this year's ATP World Tour Finals from London. After his great win against Medvedev, Nadal is the bookmaker's favourite before the match against the Greek, but as we have seen yesterday, anything can happen on the tennis court.
What is the foot injury that has troubled Rafael Nadal over the years? Check here