By Tumaini Carayol
(May 12, 2013)In one of the most unsurprising finals of 2013, Rafael Nadal triumphed 6-2, 6-4 over Stanislas Wawrinka in Madrid to lift the second masters title of his stunning return to tennis, winning his fifth tournament in the seven outings since his return.
Nadal on his victory:
“I don’t expect anything. If I expect is the most difficult thing when I go out there and play a match. In this case what I expected was to go out there and try and do it and do what I like to do, what I want to do before I go out there in the match. I’m very happy. I think I did a really good match. I think I played the best match of the whole week today in the final.”
Nadal on his tactics:
“I managed to do what I was thinking to do before starting the match. It’s always difficult. I (planned) to go out there and (hit my forehand well), you know, to smack it hard, and try to win many points with my forehand.
Afterwards with my backhand I was trying to, you know, not to play down-the-line. I was trying to play balls up there in the middle, deep balls, because I knew that those balls were the right ones. If I played that way then he didn’t have the right angle. He has some pretty good angles with his drive and his backhand.”
Nadal on the importance of Madrid:
“For me it’s a moment not to talk about Roland Garros. It’s a moment just to be happy with what I have achieved right now in Madrid, in Barcelona, and Monte‑Carlo.
In this moment nowadays I am just happy to have what I did today and win an important tournament such as Madrid. To think this is a warmup to Roland Garros, that’s wrong. It’s not a warmup. I give my maximum level.
For me this tournament means a lot, the same as Monte‑Carlo and Barcelona. I just give it the maximum importance. At home, even more important.”
Wawrinka on his condition:
“For sure I was not feeling that well and maybe not 100% physically and mentally, so then it’s really tough to play. And even if I’m playing my best tennis and completely fresh, it’s really, really tough to beat him.
If you’re not completely there then he’s killing you, like he did at the beginning of the match. It was tough for me. The ball was flying. It was different conditions”
Wawrinka on starting work with Magnus Norman:
“He was No. 2 in the world and make so many big results. He was amazing player and did a great job with Robin Soderling to get him to the No. 5 in the world.
We just start. It’s the first week in tournament with him. I think we did a good job this week. I’m really happy with how we work together. I’m really looking forward for the rest of the year with him.”
Both will immediately head to Rome as the clay season grind continues.
Tumaini Carayol was Madrid covering the Madrid Open for Tennis Panorama News. He is a contributing writer at On The Baseline, and writes about professional tennis at his site Foot Fault.