Rafael Nadal faced quite a tough day at the Italian Open, Rome 2024 season after he lost in straight sets to Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.
However, the disappointing end to the 2024 Italian Open season will not tarnish the beautiful memories of the Spanish tennis player when he looks back at his achievements at the Masters 1000 tournament.
“I always say that I can never say thank you enough for all the love and support I receive from all corners of the world,” said Nadal.
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“Here in Rome is definitely one of the most important tournaments of my career. One of those tournaments that will be in my heart for many reasons.”
“Here I played some of the most important matches, beautiful matches, emotional matches. In many moments of my career, I was able to recover from difficult moments when playing here at Roma, especially in the last eight seasons when I arrived here with some doubts, then I started to play well here.”
“For sure, that’s not what happened in this match, but it has definitely happened in the past. I really enjoy playing on this field.”
In the first meeting against Hurkacz, he wasted five break point opportunities which later proved to be costly.
“I think it was quite a challenging moment, for sure,” added Rafael Nadal, who is now 70-9 in Rome.
“I definitely started the match well. First couple of games, almost 30 minutes for the first two games, got some chances, and played well. Then he had a break and I was a little overwhelmed.”
In Rome, the former world number 1 is playing his third tournament since he returned to competition in mid-April. Although he is still trying to rediscover his best level of play, he believes his performance against Hurkacz did not show his true feelings.
“He served well. “It’s difficult for me to return it,” admitted Nadal. “It’s quite difficult to feel yourself with a real chance of getting back on his serve and not being able to do enough damage to him and make mistakes. Just that. Just accept it.”
