Carlos Moya, coach of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, is breaking down the Spaniard's performances at Roland Garros for ATPWorldTour.com. Nadal is pursuing his 11th trophy on the Parisian terre battue.
On Monday, the defending champion defeated Germany’s Maximilian Marterer, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4) to advance to the quarter-finals, where he'll face 11th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the last four. Moya lists five key takeaways from Nadal’s win over Marterer.
[ALSO LIKE]Caught Flat-footed ...
There was no excuse for Rafa to go down 0-2 at the beginning of the match. We were kind of rushed because the previous match on Court Philippe-Chatrier ended a little earlier than expected. Rafa was grabbing something to eat when we got the message [that it was time to get ready]. Still, it's not an excuse, because these things happen and you have to be ready for the unexpected.
Caught Off Guard?
Marterer was on a hot streak going into this match and we knew it was going to be a tough outing. He’s a lefty, he’s aggressive and he poses problems to anyone he faces. Honestly, we didn’t know what to expect and that element of surprise kept us in the dark as to what we were up against.
A Dip In Intensity
When Rafa was in the zone, he was in control. When he lost focus, his game suffered. That was apparent in the third set, when Marterer pushed him into a tie-break. What matters, though, is that he came through and managed to move on in three sets.
Nadal Shined For A Stretch
When Rafa is firing on all cylinders, he's at his best. From that point when he was down 0-2 in the first set through to the end of the second set, he was at his finest. Rafa was attacking the net, he was aggressive ... his game was complete. That's the best I've seen of Rafa so far.
And Now, The Diego Schwartzman Showdown
Diego is super-quick around the court and he's extremely talented. Even though he lost, he showed his toughness against Rafa at the Australian Open and at the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this year. Rafa will have to be on top of his game because there's no room for error at this stage. But I know Rafa, and I'm sure he'll be bringing his best against Diego.