Nadal's painful victory: "It wasn't my best match".
Rafael Nadal's level of tennis is hard to predict. After a very average tournament in Barcelona, the Majorcan had a rather reassuring tournament in Madrid, with three wins to his name. While most indicators seemed to be in the green (victory over Cerundolo in training), the king of clay had a much harder time than expected in his opening match. Faced with the modest Zizou Bergs (108th in the world, a qualifier), the Spaniard needed three sets to qualify.
Interviewed in the press conference, the 14-time French Open champion confessed: "It wasn't my best match (against Zizou Bergs on Thursday). [...] I train better than I played today, no doubt, but I found a way to win. That's very important at the start of a tournament. My game is more unpredictable than before. I haven't played much tennis in the last two years, so I've had my ups and downs. I think I can do a lot better than I did today, and I hope I can do it in the next round. It's always very emotional to play here. It's one of the most important tournaments in my tennis career. The public have always been great to me, supporting me since the beginning of my career, so I'm very excited to play here once again."
Rome 
Davis Cup: between reforms, criticism and national culture 
When tennis stars change courts: from Noah the singer to Safin the deputy, another match – the battle of reinvention 
As a laboratory for tomorrow’s tennis, does the Next Gen Masters have a future? 
Tennis: the little-known truths about the offseason, between rest, stress and physical survival 
