Rafa Nadal says he will make no excuses after his shock loss to American Frances Tiafoe in the US Open fourth round, despite a serious abdominal injury that derailed his run-up to the year’s final major.
Tiafoe had not made the quarterfinal of a major since the 2019 Australian Open but had no issues ending the Spaniard’s path to a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam title as Nadal struggled with his serve and on the return.
Nadal says: “We can make lamentations or we can complain now about a lot of things, but I don’t think that’s going to change any situation.
“We can’t find excuses. We need to be enough [of a] critic with myself. That’s the only way to improve or that’s the only way that I understand you are able to find solutions.”
The 36-year-old admits that time is not on his side anymore, saying: “Tennis is a sport of position a lot of times, no? If not, you need to be very, very quick and very young.
“I am not in that moment anymore.”
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